Greyhounds cruise past Cameron

If the Eastern New Mexico University baseball team is going to reach the four-team Lone Star Conference tournament, the Greyhounds will need a strong finishing kick.

Suffice it to say, they got off to a big-time start on Friday night at Greyhound Field.

ENMU gave up three runs to Cameron in the top of the first, then quickly took control behind a 27-hit attack in blasting the Aggies 21-3.

ENMU (23-22, 12-18 LSC) came in one-half game ahead of Cameron (16-25, 10-19) in the six-team LSC and 1 1/2 games behind fourth-place Tarleton State. The Hounds made up a half-game on the Texans (23-21, 13-17), who split a doubleheader at West Texas A&M.

Tarleton will finish its series at WT with a single game today while the Hounds and Aggies play twice beginning at 1 p.m. ENMU then ends the regular campaign with a three-game home series next weekend against third-place Angelo State (14-16, 25-20).

All nine members of the ENMU batting order hit safely in Friday’s rout, including six players with at least three hits.

Left fielder Rawley Gomez led the attack, going 5-for-5 with a double, a triple, four RBIs and two-runs scored. Center fielder Matthew Burks and shortstop Brett Ackerman were each 4-for-5, including Burks’ LSC-leading ninth homer, a two-run shot in the fifth, while left fielder Blake Cooper and designated hitter Chris Sanders each had three hits and four RBIs.

Senior right-hander Ben Monticello (5-4), who gave up a first-pitch leadoff homer to Cameron’s Brandon Raidy in a three-run Aggies first, was the beneficiary of the offensive onslaught. He allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out five in six innings.

Jonathan Joy worked a hitless seventh, and the game was called after 6 1/2 innings because of the 10-run rule.

The last time the Hounds scored 21 runs in a game was six years ago to the day, against rival West Texas A&M, and it was their most hits in a game since pounding out 29 against the Buffaloes on April 7, 2006.