Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ENMU third baseman Lauren Likes makes contact on a grounder up the middle in Friday's Lone Star Conference series opener. Likes was 1-for-4 in the Greyhounds' 10-7 defeat.
PORTALES - Tough season for Eastern New Mexico's softball team so far. But Friday night, the Greyhounds did battle hard against the nation's ninth-ranked Division II team.
Hosting West Texas A&M, the Hounds fell just a bit shy, 10-7, despite a stellar offensive performance at the plate.
The Greyhounds totaled 10 hits for the game, while the Lady Buffs recorded nine, but three straight West Texas A&M home runs in the top half of the sixth inning ultimately made the difference as both teams struggled to get outs throughout the game.
Eastern sophomore Jennifer McElroy had a solid afternoon with four RBIs, including a towering three-run homer over the left field fence in the bottom of the seventh and a game-tying double in the bottom of the fifth that evened the score at 4-4.
McElroy tied the game after West Texas A&M scored three runs in the third and one run in the fourth to offset an early 1-0 advantage for the Greyhounds.
Sophomore Iliana Mendoza provided that early advantage with an RBI ground out to second base scoring sophomore Kayla Marshall, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Elysa Rodriguez and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Starting pitcher Kimberly Herron kept the Lady Buffs off the board in the first two frames with a bases-loaded strikeout and three straight outs in the top of the second. The Lady Buffs struck for four total runs across the third and fourth innings to open up a 4-1 advantage, but couldn't maintain that lead through five innings, as the Greyhounds totaled four hits and forced two Lady Buff errors in the field to tie the game at 4 by the conclusion of the fifth inning.
Those three straight West Texas A&M homers broke the game open immediately in the following frame, establishing an 8-4 advantage for the Lady Buffs, which was extended to 10-4 in the top of the seventh with two more runs. The Greyhounds would not go away however, as Mendoza and junior Samantha Brockman led off the final inning with two singles before McElroy sent them both home with a three-run homer to left field.
Freshman Haleigh Behncke walked in the ensuing at-bat following McElroy's homer, but three straight outs for the Greyhounds ended the late rally.
Mendoza, Brockman, McElroy and senior Karina Moreno all recorded two hits in the game while Mendoza and Brockman each produced an RBI to go along with McElroy's four.
The Greyhounds and Lady Buffs completed their series with a Saturday-afternoon doubleheader.
