CANYON, Texas – Eastern New Mexico Baseball took game two of a doubleheader against West Texas A&M, 5-1, in a Saturday split at Wilder Park. The Buffs rallied to take game one over the Greyhounds, 5-4, while ENMU responded with a 5-1 victory in the second game. ENMU improve to 7-11 overall (7-11 in LSC play), while WT move to 11-6 on the season and 9-6 in conference play.
GAME ONE: WT 5, ENMU 4
The Greyhounds struck first in the opening inning against the Buffs, grabbing a single run. After a pair of hits, a fielder's choice, and a walk loaded the bases,
Nick Schifftner worked a full count walk to send the run home.
Cooper Hamilton and
Jonatan Clough reached with a hit each, with Clough scoring the run from third. The home team responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first.
However, ENMU took the lead right back in the second frame. The Hounds loaded the bases after a walk, reach on error, single with two outs in the inning.
Willie Ponce stepped up and delivered single to right center, sending two Greyhounds to the plate, 3-1 ENMU. West Texas A&M grabbed a run in the third inning, but the Greyhounds held a 3-2 edge after five full innings.
Starting off the top of the sixth inning,
Camden Matthews beat out an infield single, and found their way into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. With two outs, Ponce provided another RBI single to score C. Matthews. However, the Buffalos put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead over ENMU. A bases loaded balk scored one run, then a two-out single scored two more runs.
WT closed the contest with a 1-2-3 seventh inning to take game one 5-4.
NOTABLE STATS
- Each team finished with eight hits in the contest, with ENMU suppling one extra base hit.
- Ponce finished the afternoon with two hits and three RBI's in the contest, while Hamilton also supplied two hits in the game.
- Adrian Rubio threw all six innings for ENMU, allowing five runs from eight hits with a pair of strikeouts.
- The Buffs saw three pitchers take the rubber in the game, with Isaac Keehn starting the game and throwing five innings. Gavin Pringle gets the win for the Buffs, dealing one inning with one run allowed, while Tyler Cornett recorded their fourth save of the season.
GAME TWO: ENMU 5, WT 1
Pitching for both teams was phenomenal to start the contest, with the first hit of the game coming in the bottom of the third inning. The games first run didn't cross the plate until the bottom of the fourth, with WT jumping out on top. A hit by pitch and back-to-back singles loaded the bases with one out. From that bases loaded situation, a fielder's choice sent a run to the plate for WT to take a slim 1-0 lead.
To start the fifth inning, Ponce broke up the Buffs no-hit bid with a single to right field.
Demetrio Archuleta laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Ponce to second. After a ground out,
Rutger Poiry stepped to the dish with two outs. The Hounds catcher launched a homerun over the left field fence, giving the Greyhounds a 2-1 lead with one swing of the bat. The Hounds defense backed up the offense over the next two innings, with
Ruger Bravo allowing just one base runner over the next two frames.
Eastern added three insurance runs in the seventh to take a 5-1 lead. After Clough reached on a walk,
Braeton Matthews came in to pinch run with two outs. Schifftner doubled to left center, and Poiry reached on a hit by pitch to load the bases. B. Matthews bolted for home on wild pitch, then
Spencer Roach singled up the middle to score two more runs. The Greyhounds induced three flyouts to end the contest over the Buffs, 5-1.
NOTABLE STATS
- Hitting was tough to come by for both teams, with eight hits between the two squads. The Greyhounds had the only two extra base hits in the game.
- Four different Greyhounds produced a hit in the contest: Poiry (homerun), Schifftner (double), Ponce (single), and Roach (single).
- Poiry and Roach supplied the RBI's, with two for each of them.
- Bravo dialed in another complete game performance, allowing just four hits, one run, and one walk, while recording two strikeouts.
- The loss goes to Douglas Rojas after tossing 6.2 innings, giving up four runs, three walks, and striking out eight hitters. Cornett recorded just one out, giving up a run from a hit and a hit by pitch.
FROM THE SOURCE
"Game one was unfortunate. We shot ourselves in the foot one too many times and handed them that win on a platter," said Head Baseball Coach Riley Price. "We lost our approach at the plate a little after the third and could have put up a few more runs on the their starter. Rubio threw very well, but some mental mistakes on defense that came to bite us again at the end," said Price.
"In game two, I was proud of how we handled losing a tough game one and beat a very good arm. It was about time we had some success against a lefty and it came at a good time," said Price. "We had some clutch hits and made some elite plays on defense. Bravo put us on his back and threw extremely well to secure that win," said Price. "I'm proud of how he kept his composure all seven innings for us. Hard to be excited about that win when we should have win the last three, but we need to lock it in and go home with a split tomorrow," said Price.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Greyhounds beat the Buffs for the first time since 2017 (3/25/17, 7-1), ending a 19-game losing against WT. The last time ENMU bested the Buffalos in Canyon was in 2015 (3/7/15, 9-2).
- Bravo threw his second complete game of the season and allowed a season low four hits during the game.
- Poiry hit his first homerun in a Greyhound uniform, while Ponce tallied a season high three RBIs in game one.
- Eastern conclude the series tomorrow at Wilder Park, with first pitch scheduled to be thrown at 12 p.m.
