TYLER, Texas – Eastern New Mexico baseball did it again. For a second consecutive game, ENMU beat No. 17 UT Tyler. The 6-5 victory for the Greyhounds clinched the second-straight series split against the Patriots.
"Proud of our group today for not giving up after a slow start," said head coach
Riley Price.
The first seven innings came down to strong pitching and aggressive approaches at the plate. UT Tyler took a 3-0 lead after scoring two runs in the first and another in the third. They held that edge until the eighth inning. That is when chaos ensued.
Sunday's getaway game was a fast-paced game with low-pitch innings and several batters taking chances on first-pitch opportunities. ENMU got a couple base runners on bags early.
Eiji Sawamura started the game by getting hit by a pitch, but he was picked off just moments later. Then, Eastern tallied two singles from
Gabriel Watson and
Adrien Martin.
Salomon Lluveres reach base after a fielder's choice to get Watson out at second. With two outs, the Patriots got out of the inning on a fly out off the bat of
Cole Curtis.
Charlie Pierson got the start for Eastern New Mexico. He had his best outing of the season, including his first win on the mound for the Hounds. Pierson allowed five hits and three walks over seven innings of work. Only three Patriots scored with the ENMU ace on the hill.
Pierson got in trouble early allowing a leadoff walk to Connor Clark and proceeding to commit an error that would advance the Patriot runner to second base. Clark would later make it to third base on a wild pitch. An infield popup got ENMU their first out of the outing and UTT proceeded to get runners on the corners via a walk. The Hounds second error of the inning allowed Clark to race home and score the first run of the game. At the end of the first inning saw Patriot Tanner Hornback get an RBI-single before getting thrown out at second base for trying to advance multiple bases.
Both teams had one hit each in the second, but strong pitching moved it into the third. The following inning continued what would be eight-straight outs thrown by Dylan Blomquist. That would carry into the fifth inning.
The bottom of the third went well for UTT as they added a run onto their lead. Two early singles helped runners reach the corners for the Patriots. ENMU was able to make a nice play defensively turning a double play, but they sacrificed the home side scoring one run.
As previously mentioned, the game would stay 3-0 until the eighth. The Greyhounds had their chances throughout the contest, including getting runners on in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. It was the eighth that changed the nature of the outcome. UTT got two early outs, but a four-pitch walk to
Adrien Martin challenged the Patriots to make a pitching change. The team switched from Noah Lindt to Garrett Landry.
The Greyhounds proceeded to bolt ahead with four-straight two-out singles. Those hits came from
Cole Curtis,
Isaiah Figueroa (RBI),
Logan Martin, and the go-ahead two-RBI hit from
Jake Willerup. Coach Price pinch hit Willerup in
Gaston Galvan's spot despite Willerup not at full health. The trust paid off as the pinch hitter came up clutch for Eastern New Mexico and gave the program a 4-3 advantage.
Eastern went to
Alexander Sanderson to close out the last two innings for the Greyhounds. Better known as "Sandy" by coach Price, the senior hit one batter in the eighth, but did not struggle getting three outs as he posted two strikeouts in the frame.
The ninth was all about insurance for ENMU.
Adrien Martin had an important RBI-single to score
Eiji Sawamura. On the next at-bat,
Cole Curtis had an RBI-single to his credit to see
Salomon Lluveres cross home. The Greyhounds would take a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the final frame.
UTT did not take long to strike. The Patriots had a leadoff walk and a soaring homer by Cole Ketzner to get the game within one. Eastern did not fret. Instead, Sanderson forced a first-pitch groundout and a five-pitch fly out. ENMU would give up a two-out walk and send the potential game winning run to the plate. Sanderson stood the challenge and had his third strikeout of the game to close out the win for Eastern New Mexico.
ENMU moves to 8-18 on the season and now prepares for a four-game series against Sul Ross State beginning on Friday, March 20. ENMU Athletics will hold a pregame tailgate with more information to come at a later time.
