Hounds fall to TAMK

KINGSVILLE, Texas — Playing the nation’s 11th-ranked Division II team is probably going to be a challenge. And it certainly was for Eastern New Mexico’s softball team on Friday.

Though the Greyhounds pushed Texas A&M-Kingsville to the final inning in the second game of a doubleheader, they fell 4-2 in that contest after dropping the opener 8-0.

In the nightcap, a home run over the left field fence from sophomore Jennifer McElroy in the top half of the sixth inning cut a 4-0 Hounds’ deficit in half and gave them a chance to pull off the road upset.

Eastern New Mexico had the go-ahead run at the plate after getting runners on first and second base with just one out in the top of the seventh — the final frame — but couldn’t manage to manufacture the runs across and fell by the 4-2 final.

McElroy recorded two of the Greyhounds’ four hits on the day after they failed to record a hit in the 8-0 Game 1 loss at the hands of the Javelinas. Senior Kimberly Herron got the start for Eastern in Game 1 and kept Texas A&M-Kingsville off the board until the bottom of the third, but then conceded seven more runs over the course of the fourth and fifth innings to enact the five-inning rule.

McElroy was joined in the hit column by junior Elysa Rodriguez and senior Emma Gary in the day’s second game. Herron got the start in Game 2 as well and worked through the first three innings without surrendering a hit, allowing just one baserunner by way of a walk in the bottom of the third.

Herron found trouble in the heart of the Javelina order in the bottom of the fourth, giving up three straight runs before being replaced by senior Emma Gary, who would work through the remainder of the game. Herron finished Game 2 by surrendering three earned runs on just three hits before Gary took over and allowed just one earned run the remainder of the contest to give the Hounds a chance at getting themselves back into the game.

The McElroy home run proved to be a game-changer as Eastern recorded two out of their four hits in the game following the homer. Gary continued the momentum generated by the long ball with a single in the next at-bat, followed with a hit-by-pitch on senior Karina Moreno.

Despite not cashing in Gary or Moreno in the top of the sixth, that rally continued into the sixth with a leadoff walk by sophomore Kayla Marshall and the single by Rodriguez.

Eastern and A&M-Kingsville played the series finale — a solo game — on Saturday afternoon.