One up, two down

PORTALES — As of Saturday afternoon, Eastern New Mexico’s baseball team had a one-game winning streak. By the end of the day Sunday, the Greyhounds were on a two-game losing skid.

Eastern began Saturday’s home doubleheader with an 11-6 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. But then came the nightcap, which was a real oucher for the Hounds as they found themselves on the business end of a 17-1 loss.

Sunday’s solo-game series finale went a lot better for the Greyhounds, though they still endured a heartbreaking 8-7 defeat after leading 7-1.

Saturday split

In the first game of the non-conference doubleheader, Texas A&M-Kingsville was able to get on the board first with a two-run single by Pablo Hernandez off Greyhounds starter Joel Torres to claim the early edge.

The Hounds were able to bounce back in the bottom half of the frame to draw the game back even. Eastern notched its first run when it pulled off a double steal, as Eurick Perez stole second and Joseph Zubia snuck into home while the Javelinas tried to nab Perez at second. That made it a one-run game.

On the Hounds’ next at-bat, designated hitter Luidinson Hidalgo knocked in Perez with a single that slipped through the left side to tie the game at 2.

The Javelinas went back ahead in the top of the second, scoring three unearned runs to make the score 5-2. However, Eastern stayed hot from the plate in bottom of the second. Malcolm Boehm led off the inning by slapping a triple down the right field line and after Bryan Waltemath reached on a walk, Joel Paulino smashed an RBI double to right center to close the gap to 5-3 with runners in scoring position and nobody out.

In his first at-bat in the nine-hole, senior outfielder Malcolm Smith delivered with a two-run single to center, scoring Waltemath and Paulino to draw the game even at five.

Two batters later, Smith came around to score on a TAMUK error to give Eastern its first lead of the game at 6-5. And the Greyhounds never trailed from then on.

The Javelinas were able to stifle the Hounds’ bats in the second game of the doubleheader with Eastern’s only run came off an Ankerman sacrifice fly in the third inning, during a forgettable 17-1 loss for the green and white.

Kingsville got its 17 runs off 12 hits and committed just one error while the Hounds notched their run off five hits with five errors.

No luck o’ the Greyhounds

Decked out in St. Patrick’s Day uniforms that had the ENMU Greyhound symbol in a shamrock, there was still no luck for the Hounds, as they dropped a close one, 8-7, on Sunday at Greyhound Field.

Eastern (9-11) was able to build a 7-1 advantage before TAMUK stormed back. The Javelinas plated five in the top of the eighth, begun by a three-run homer from Pablo Hernandez.

A&M-Kingsville pulled ahead in the top of the ninth, tying the game on an error and grabbing the lead on a sacrifice fly from Cameron Melcher. The Greyhounds were not able to rally in the bottom of the ninth and weren’t able to return to the .500 mark as a result, slipping two games under.

Eastern returns to the road this weekend for one more non-conference series at Dallas Christian. The action begins with a Friday doubleheader that starts at 11 a.m. Friday.