PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico baseball dropped the series opener to West Texas A&M, 14-3 (8 inn.) Friday afternoon at Greyhound Baseball Field.

"We have to take advantage when we have runners on base," said head coach Riley Price after the game. "I want to see us respond tomorrow and play like I know we can."

A cloudy day featured a slight rain delay midway through the game. The cool conditions made it difficult to see towering pop-ups, but both teams managed to limit fielding errors despite the darker conditions.

The difference in the game came down to a trio of throwing errors from Greyhound pitchers. Cole Lancaster had an outstanding outing of work for the first part of his day. He hit one batter and faced seven hitters in just his first 2.1 innings of work. In the third and fourth innings, he allowed two Buffs to get on base. However, he was able to escape those late pushes from WT and move the game into the fifth.

WT trailed 1-0 all the way until the fifth inning. That is when they shifted gears and scored 3+ runs in each of the final four frames. The fifth saw the visitors take a 3-1 lead and control the matchup with clutch hitting. The Buffs earned a leadoff double and quickly had runners on the corners after a fielder's choice that left both runners safe. A one-run double tied the game for WT on the next batter. Back-to-back ground outs allowed the runners on third to advance safely to home and give West Texas A&M the 3-1 edge.

The Buffs continued the offensive output in the sixth inning with three more runs on just three hits. Eastern got the game within three runs in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a two-RBI single from Eiji Sawamura.

WT finished the next two innings with four runs apiece. They earned a 14-3 win by way of run-rule.

Sawamura led the Greyhounds with three of the team's nine hits. He got on base four times in the loss. Nicholas Miller added two hits and a walk. Eastern struggled to move runners as they left 10 runners on base in the game.

Lancaster was credited with the loss after going 5.1 innings and allowing five runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out three batters in the outing.

Eastern New Mexico continues the series with West Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. First pitch for the doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m.