ENMU baseball, softball teams post two wins

LAREDO, Texas - Joseph Holguin delivered a go-ahead squeeze bunt in the top of the ninth inning and Eastern New Mexico University's baseball team edged Texas A&M International 12-11 on Friday to complete a sweep of their Lone Star Conference doubleheader.

The Greyhounds took the opener 9-4. The final game of the series was set for Saturday afternoon.

ENMU (8-26, 7-24 LSC) nearly let the second contest get away after scoring six times in the top of the first. The Hounds sent 11 men to the plate and collected five hits while taking advantage of two Dustdevils errors.

International (7-24, 6-23) chipped away, getting three in the bottom of the first and closing to 11-10 in the seventh with a two-run double by Matt Kissamis and an RBI single by Ronnie Bailey. Phillip Sanchez then tied it with a run-scoring double in the bottom of the eighth.

Left-hander Cooper Hamilton (2-3) worked the final 2 2/3 innings to get the win, allowing three hits and a run with three strikeouts. Center fielder Camden Matthews led a 15-hit ENMU attack, going 3-for-5, while five other Hounds each had a pair of hits.

The Dustdevils collected 16 hits, including three each for shortstop Isaac Gonzales, Sanchez and Kissamis, but they committed five errors in the field.

In the first game, the Hounds got home runs from Nicholas Tamez, Rio Granger and Andres Quintana. Tamez broke the game open with a three-run shot in the eighth, his team-leading fifth of the campaign.

Starter Fernando Burgos (1-0) pitched effectively into the seventh, while junior Liam Sabiston went 2 2/3 innings and allowed no runs for his first save of the season.

ENMU softball team keeps it rolling - Yes, Friday was a great day to be a Greyhound. The ENMU softball squad, which opened the season with 20 losses before beating Midwestern State last Sunday, made it three wins in a row with a 6-1, 8-7 sweep of Western New Mexico in LSC play at Greyhound Softball Field.

Right-handers Maite Bustillos (1-2) and Brook Leger (2-6) pitched just the team's second and third complete games of the season.

Bustillos scattered eight hits, walked one and struck out one while Leger permitted nine hits, walked two and struck out four. Three of the runs against her were unearned.

Left fielder Aylene Lucero broke the first game open for ENMU (3-20, 3-19 LSC) with a three-run homer in a four-run sixth, extending the Hounds' lead from 2-1.

Catcher Mikenzey Patterson led a 13-hit attack, going 3-for-3, while Lucero, Azalea Martinez, Bella Mendoza and Alanna Larkins each had a pair of knocks.

In Game 2, Lucero went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored while shortstop Alanna Larkins drove in three runs with a two-run double and a squeeze bunt.

The Mustangs (1-25, 1-25) have now dropped 25 games in a row since a season-opening 4-2 win over Texas Woman's on March 3 at Denton, Texas.

The Hounds will look to keep it going today when they host an LSC twin bill against Texas-Permian Basin (5-31, 3-23), starting at 11 a.m.

Smith, Campbell lead ENMU tracksters - Freshman Tamia Smith posted the second-best all-time effort in shot put competition in Thursday's Don Kirby Tailwind Open track meet, hosted by the University of New Mexico.

Smith went an even 42 feet in the event, placing her fifth overall, and she now has four of the school's five all-time best marks in the event. She also placed sixth in discus at 119-1.

Also for the ENMU women, sophomore Jessica Campbell finished seventh in high jump at 5-1 and eighth in javelin at 113-1.

Other top-8 finishes for the Greyhounds on the women's side were posted by junior Malethabo Seema, sixth in the 800 in 2:16.13; senior Torisha LaForce, sixth in the 400 hurdles in 1:09.83, and junior Aminata Kenyawani and senior Mercy Rotich, who ran 6-7 in the 5,000 with respective times of 18:53.07 and 19:09.02.

ENMU thinclads are back in action on Friday and Saturday in Texas Tech's Corky/Crowfoot Shootout in Lubbock.