Hounds finish 5-1 on trip to Atlanta

ATLANTA — Senior left fielder Michael McNicholl went 6-for-7 with seven RBIs on Monday, leading Eastern New Mexico University to a 7-3, 13-1 sweep of Montgomery, Alabama-based Tuskegee University to finish off a stretch of six games in four days for the Greyhounds in the Atlanta area.

ENMU (9-1) won five times on the trip, suffering its first loss of the season on Sunday in the opener of a doubleheader against Morehouse College 6-4. The Greyhounds came back to beat the Tigers 17-6 in the second game.

All four games were slated for seven innings. ENMU is now off until opening its home slate against Wayland Baptist at Greyhound Field a week from today.

Tuskegee’s Jalen Luter hit a one-out homer in the top of the first in Monday’s nightcap, but the Hounds got consecutive run-scoring singles from Alex DeLaCruz and McNicholl in the bottom half before adding back-to-back, five-run innings in the second and third.

Catcher Levi Shandrew went 4-for-4 for the Hounds with a pair of RBI singles to lead a 13-hit attack. McNicholl finished 3-for-4, adding a run-scoring single in the second and a two-run double in the third.

Junior right-hander Nick DeArmond (1-0) went four innings for the victory, allowing three hits and striking out four.

In the opener, back-to-back home runs by first baseman Andrew Stubbs, a two-run shot, and McNicholl wiped out a 1-0 Tigers lead in the bottom of the first, and ENMU went on to the victory. Stubbs and McNicholl each drove in three runs in the contest for the Hounds.

McNicholl hit a two-run single in ENMU’s three-run sixth against Eugene Mabota (0-1) and finished the game 3-for-3, while Stubbs and second baseman Alex DeLaCruz each added a pair of hits.

Sophomore right-hander Enrique Perez (2-0) went the distance for the Hounds, allowing seven hits with four walks and six strikeouts. The Tigers (5-4) scored in the first on an RBI double by catcher Matthew Reed, and pulled to 4-3 in the third as first baseman Ricky Green drove in a run with a groundout and designated hitter Joseph Mauldin added an RBI single.

Morehouse College 6-6, ENMU 4-17 (Sunday) — The Hounds were positioned to go to 7-0 in the opener against the Atlanta-based Golden Tigers, leading 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth. But Morehouse (3-8) erupted for five runs and held on for the victory.

The big blow in the frame was a two-run triple by right fielder Bobby Kannad. Right-hander Jason Davis (1-1) made it stand up for Morehouse with a complete-game effort.

The Golden Tigers outhit ENMU 8-6, with Kannad the only player earning a multi-hit contest by going 2-for-3. Second baseman Alex DeLaCruz finished 2-for-4 for ENMU.

ENMU pulled away late in the nightcap, breaking a 5-5 tie with a seven-run sixth highlighted by a grand slam from second baseman Alex DeLaCruz. The Hounds added five more in the seventh inning, with Cruz adding a fifth RBI on a single.

Center fielder Malcolm Smith, DeLaCruz and Stubbs — the top three hitters in the order — all went 3-for-5 in the contest as the Hounds pounded out 17 hits. Bryce Welborn (1-0) allowed seven hits and five earned runs for ENMU, but was the beneficiary of the late offensive barrage and earned the victory.