West Texas gains split with ENMU

PORTALES — If nothing else, Eastern New Mexico University's baseball team is showing its pitching is of Lone Star Conference caliber.

The problem is, the Greyhounds will be fighting to earn a four-game split with rival West Texas A&M in today's 1 p.m. finale of their Lone Star Conference series.

No. 9 hitter Aaron Vallance delivered a two-out, bases-loaded single in the top of the sixth, then scored on a single by Jimmyu Cubillos as the Buffaloes notched a 3-1 win in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader at Greyhound Field.

ENMU (22-7) won the opener 7-1 in the conference-opening series for both teams. In three games against the third-ranked Buffs (20-5), Hounds pitching has allowed only six runs.

"It's a tale of two different seasons for sure," ENMU coach David Gomez said. "We had a lot of young guys and now those guys are veterans, so the guys that we supplemented around those guys have come in with a fresh new outlook.

"You know we changed a lot of things, changed the way we did everything, and so now the outcome is what it is now. We're really happy for our guys and they've basically adjusted to the challenge that we put out in front of them back in August."

Senior right-hander Kennan Dodd struck out eight over five innings, but was lifted after throwing 104 pitchers. Reliever Dwight Velarde (1-1) was charged with the loss, although all three WT runs were unearned.

The Hounds took a 1-0 lead in the second when Zach Shank's two-out single to left scored Garlind Webster.

WT's Joshua Payne (5-1) struck out nine and allowed just three hits in six innings. Justin McCalister pitched a perfect seventh, striking out two, for his fifth save and second in the series.

Vallance and right fielder Nick Canas each had two of WT's eight hits.

In the opener, right-hander Austin Paisar (3-1) pitched into the seventh inning and the Hounds took command with a five-run second that included run-scoring singles by catcher Levi Shandrew and second baseman Alex DeLaCruz. WT had four errors in the game, including a pair of throwing errors in the second.

ENMU added runs in the fourth on Chris Padilla's double and the sixth on Michael McNicholl's infield single.

Paisar walked two and struck out four, allowing only a fourth-inning run on a groundout by catcher Troy LaBrie, before giving way to lefty Victor Persad with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. Persad ended it by getting a strikeout and a flyout.

The Hounds outhit the Buffs 12-5, with designated hitter Paul Tapia going 3-for-3 and Padilla, Shandrew and Nicholas Ankerman each adding two hits. WT's Ryan Larison (3-2) was chased during the five-run second.

West Texas A&M 2, ENMU 1 (Friday) - Junior right-hander Marshall Kasowski carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and tied a WT school record with 17 strikeouts as the Buffs prevailed in the series opener.

Kasowski tossed a career-high 143 pitches before being pulled with one out in the bottom of the eighth. He had a 16-strikeout game in February against Lubbock Christian.

ENMU right-hander Scott Klein (4-2) pretty much matched Kasowski pitch for pitch, allowing three hits with four walks and 11 strikeouts in six innings.

"Their guy is one of the best pitchers in the country," Gomez said of Kasowski. "We did the best we could to try to stay close.

"Scott Klein pitched really well took us deep in the game and then (left-hander Alec) Lemmon did well out of the (bull)pen, so we had a decent performance ourselves going against their best guy."

McAllister got the final four outs for the save. The game featured 36 strikeouts, including two by McAllister, while Klein and two ENMU relievers combined for 17.

A single, a walk and a sacrifice set up a two-out, two-run single by Valance for WT in the second inning.

Padilla finally broke up Kasowski's no-hit bid with a two-out single to right to drive in Blake Frye in the seventh. The Hounds stranded two runners in that inning, and two more in the eighth.

Catcher Gabriel Vargas singled for ENMU with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but McAllister got Padilla to ground into a game-ending double play.