PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico Baseball program suffered a pair of defeats against the (RV) University of Texas at Tyler on Saturday afternoon at Greyhound Baseball Field. In game one, both teams were back and forth taking the lead, but the Patriots pulled away with a 11-9 win. During the second game, the Patriots posted 18 hits coming away with a 14-6 win over ENMU. ENMU shift to 14-17 on the season, with a 12-17 LSC record. UTT improve to 23-11 overall on the season, while hold the same conference record.

GAME ONE: UTT 11, ENMU 9

The bats for both teams came out firing in the first two innings. UT Tyler wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning with a solo homerun to take a 1-0 lead. The Patriots plated five runs in the top of the second inning, benefitting from a pair of two-run homeruns, 6-0 UTT. However, the Greyhounds started to hit the UT Tyler pitching.
 
After Dylan Hummel reached on a walk, ENMU strung together four straight singles to cut the UTT lead in half. Cooper Hamilton, Jayden Martinez, Mason Estrada, and Nick Schifftner posted base hits during the scoring. After an out, Demetrio Archuleta singled with Schifftner and Estrada coming home to score, 6-5. Then with two runners on base, Willie Ponce tripled down the right field line to give ENMU the lead, and scored on a error on the play, 8-6 ENMU. The Greyhounds scored eight runs on eight hits in the inning.
 
From there, the bats started to cool down as both teams were making plays on defense. The Patriots resumed the scoring in the sixth inning with four runs to take back the lead. UT Tyler provided four hits in the frame, taking the lead 10-8 over ENMU. Eastern snagged one run in the bottom of the sixth, to trail 10-9 going to the seventh. Jonatan Clough brought home a run on a single with two outs and a runner on second.
 
The Patriots added one more run in the final inning and recorded a 1-2-3 inning to take game one 11-9.

NOTABLE STATS

• The Patriots provided 13 hits during the game, while ENMU picked up 11 base hits. UT Tyler recorded eight extra base hits, compared to the one for ENMU.
• Archuleta and Hamilton both finished with a pair of hits, while four other Greyhounds secured one base knock.
• In terms of RBIs, Archuleta and Ponce had two RBIs, while Clough, Martinez, Estrada, and Schifftner had an RBI.
• Adrian Rubio is given the loss, throwing 5.1 innings, and allowing 10 runs on 11 hits. Javier Luna tossed 1.2 innings, with one run allowed on two hits.
• Harrison Lee earns the win in relief, three innings pitched, while Garrett Arredondo posted a save after 2.0 innings and on run allowed. Miles Clack started the game for the Patriots, allowing eight runs in two innings.

GAME TWO: UTT 14, ENMU 6

Eastern scored first in the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead. Archuleta reached on a single to get a base runner on for ENMU, then moved to second on Clough hit by pitch. With two outs, Hummel singled to opposite field to push Archuleta to the plate. UTT Tyler responded with one run in the second and two runs in the third to go up 3-1. The Greyhounds struck back with a run in third to pit the score at 3-2 UTT.
 
The Patriots tore open the game from that point, posting scoring nine unanswered runs over three innings, 12-2. In the seventh, UT Tyler pushed their lead to 14-2 over ENMU. Eastern continued the contest in the seventh with three runs, 14-5 UTT. Clough hit a two run double, while Ponce drove home a run on a sacrifice fly. The Greyhounds added one more run before the game ended, with Jack Thompson doubling a run home in the eighth inning.
 
In the end, UT Tyler came away with a 14-6 victory over the Greyhounds in game two.

NOTABLE STATS

• The Patriots scattered 18 hits during the game, while ENMU posted 10 hits in game two.
• Eight different Greyhounds had a base hit during the game, while a pair of ENMU hitters had multiple hits.
• Both Clough and Archuleta each had two hits in the game, while Clough also led the team with a pair of RBIs.
• Julian Lopez takes the defeat for ENMU, surrendering seven runs on nine hits. Noah Rodriguez, Anthony Gonzalez, Austin Dunn, and Nyles Duren all took the rubber during the game, with Gonzalez and Duren each going 2.2 innings.
• For the Patriots, Dylan Bloomquist picks up the win, while Bryson Adair and Nick Oslovar each tossed two innings in relief.

FROM THE SOURCE

"Not a great day for the Hounds," said Head Baseball Coach Riley Price. "We are not a big inning style offensive team as we have to find ways to string together some runs in multiple innings and we didn't do that today. We had some good flashes, but UT Tyler did a good job of minimizing when we started to create an momentum at the plate," said Price. "We did not command it very well on the mound today either and they made us pay with 12 extra base hits. If we can execute better on the mound and score in multiple innings tomorrow, I think we have a good opportunity to salvage the weekend," said Price. "I expect us to bounce back and respond with a little more fight and toughness tomorrow".

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Greyhounds faced off against UT Tyler for the first time at Greyhound Baseball Field in series history.
• Duren made his first appearance on the mound this season for ENMU.
• Eastern conclude the series with UT Tyler on Sunday, Apr. 2, with a seven-inning contest starting at 11 a.m., while game two will start shortly after and feature a nine-inning game.