PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico baseball opened a four-game home series with a convincing 13-5 win over UT Permian Basin on Friday evening.
A chill breeze treated the Greyhounds and Falcons to a game that saw ENMU gain control off a pair of UTPB errors. Eastern had a season-high 14 hits and all nine position players for Eastern registered a hit in the effort.
Cole Curtis led the way off the plate and helped the program adjust to the visitor's pitching crew by going 4-for-5 at the plate while grabbing four RBI's.
Despite winning by eight runs, Eastern New Mexico was not the first team to strike the scoreboard. ENMU's starter
Cole Lancaster set down the opening two batters before allowing three-straight hits leading to an RBI-single to give the Falcons a 1-0 advantage.
Curtis led off the bottom half of the inning with a single off an 0-2 count, however, the Greyhounds could not capitalize on the opportunity with the lead runner.
The second inning saw Lancaster allow two runners on for the Falcons with one out, but he stayed grounded and got two quick outs over the next five pitches.
The bottom of the second inning is where things got a little crazy for Eastern New Mexico.
Adrien Martin (walk),
Logan Martin (single), and
Grant Gilooly (single) reached base safely early in the frame. UTPB was able to grab a second out in the inning, but the bases remained loaded. Then, craziness ensued.
An error at first base allowed two runners to score on the next play. From there, five-straight singles led to a six-run inning for the Greyhounds. One error with two outs allowed Eastern New Mexico to keep the inning alive and string together a rally that would help them maintain a strong lead.
UT Permian Basin would tack on a pair of runs in the third inning, but Lancaster would not allow any additional Falcons to score the remainder of his five-inning outing. The junior right hander has had two-straight winning outings after struggling over a pair of starts in the early portion of the season. He allowed a season-high seven hits but also had a season-high seven strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches and managed to hold UTPB to just three runs.
Lancaster now holds a 3-3 record on the mound over six starts. Last season he held a 4-4 nod through 11 starts.
Eastern would add a run off a
Logan Martin single scoring Salmon Lluveres. Lluveres was playing in just his fourth game this season and he tied a season-best with two hits in the win.
UTPB was only able to score any more runs in the seventh inning off a triple and sacrifice fly. With the score, 7-5, Eastern New Mexico had an excellent five-run seventh inning to extend their advantage.
Lluveres began the frame with a second-pitch double. He advanced to third off a ground out on the next play. Runners got on the corners with a six-pitch walk afterwards. From there,
Isaiah Figueroa had a first-pitch base knock and allowed one run to score and ENMU continued the frame with the corners painted. Déjà vu ensued with a
Gaston Galvan single and once again a Hound scored and the corners saw Greyhound base runners.
Cole Curtis had his second triple of the season and cleared the bases as two more runs crossed the plate. The last run in the frame came off a sac-fly from
Eiji Sawamura. In total, the Hounds saw five runs on four hits.
Eastern New Mexico added a run in the eighth inning to provide further insurance. Strong pitching in relief aided the Hounds to a second-straight win.
Demitrius DiMatteo went four innings allowing just two runs on four hits and a walk. He bolted past the UTPB lineup by striking out five Falcons and throwing 74 pitches.
Eastern New Mexico improves to 5-14 and will continue the four-game series with a doubleheader against the Falcons on Saturday.
