AUSTIN, TEXAS – St. Edward's supplied nine unanswered runs to beat Eastern New Mexico Baseball, 9-8, on Sunday afternoon at Lucian-Hamilton Field. With the defeat, both teams take a series split. The Greyhounds drop to 7-9 on the season with the same conference record. St. Edward's improve to 6-8 overall with a 6-6 LSC record.

Eastern started the offensive game first, plating seven runs in the opening three innings. Back-to-back hits scored the Greyhounds first run of the game, with a Demetrio Archuleta double and Willie Ponce single scoring the first run. Two runs came across after a fielder's choice from Tucker Gideon, then a two-out triple from Archuleta.
 
In the third inning, Beau Preston singled a run home after the first two batters of the inning reached on walks. After a Luciano Terilli single loaded the bases, Lyndon Pyles doubled into the left center gap to put Eastern ahead 6-0. Gideon concluded the inning with a RBI single.
 
The turning point came in the sixth inning. Ponce pushed the Greyhounds advantage to 8-0 after a solo home run in the frame, but the Hilltoppers scored seven runs in the bottom of the inning to make the score 8-7. St. Edward's scored their runs from one hit, one error, two walks, and three hit by pitches. In the bottom of the eight, a two out bases loaded single drove home two runs to give St. Edward's a 9-8 lead. The Greyhounds did get the tying run on base in the 9^th inning, but the Hilltoppers secured the final out to complete the comeback, 9-8.

NOTABLE STATS

• The Greyhounds finished the game with nine hits in the contest, while the Hilltoppers picked up seven base hits.
• Seven different Greyhounds recorded a base hit, while a pair of Hounds had multiple hits.
• Archuleta and Ponce finished with two hits each, while Gideon, Ponce, and Pyles supplied two RBIs. Cooper Hamilton and Daniel Pruitt each finished with a pair of walks.
• Julian Lopez gets a no-decision after throwing five scoreless innings for ENMU. Zach Raichel is hit with the loss, giving up three runs in 2.1 innings. Maddux Edmonson, Griffin Almond, Jadon Rendon, and Marc Rios also appeared in the game for ENMU.
• Austin Essex earns the win from the bullpen, throwing the final 2.2 innings with one hit and one walk.

FROM THE SOURCE

"We had the opportunity to win the series today and blew an 8-0 lead late," said Head Baseball Coach Riley Price. "I'm really disappointed in how we let that one get away after starting the day off on a good note. Free bases by our bullpen and two errors let them come all the way back which just can't happen," said Price. "We left way too many runners on base offensively as well, which didn't help. Just about everything that could go wrong happened," said Price. "Hopefully, our pitching can reset going into our next series and offensively we just need to get a few more guys rolling,". 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Greyhounds earned their first series split ever with the Hilltoppers, while picking up two or more wins in Austin for the first time in one weekend.
• Pruitt and Hamilton both had a season high three walks, while Ponce had their first home run of the season, and Archuleta for the first time to campaign.
• Lopez tossed a season long five innings, with their first scoreless outing of the season and high of four strikeouts.
• Eastern return home to play #9 West Texas A&M at Greyhound Baseball Field in a four-game series. The series begins Friday, Mar. 1 with a nine-inning contest beginning at 2 p.m. Next, the Greyhounds and Buffs will play a seven-inning doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 2, starting at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Then, the series finale between the two programs is set for Sunday, Mar. 3, with first pitch expected for 1 p.m.