ENMU captures series win

PORTALES - Noah De La Riva had a rough first inning on Friday night.

Given a lift with his teammates putting some runs on the board, though, he was able to settle in the rest of the way.

De La Riva, a freshman right-hander from El Paso, threw 31 pitches and allowed three first-inning tallies in Friday's Lone Star Conference series opener against St. Mary's at Greyhound Field.

After that, he tossed 78 pitches over six shutout innings, leaving with an eight-run lead before the Greyhounds had to hang on late for a 12-9 win over the San Antonio-based Rattlers.

ENMU (14-18, 13-17 LSC) took the series 3-1 over St. Mary's (12-22, 10-22) on Sunday with a wild 17-12 triumph after the teams split a pair of seven-inning contests on Saturday.

It was a big series win for the Hounds, picked for last place in the LSC preseason poll but currently seventh in the 13-team circuit. They are two games ahead of Oklahoma Christian (14-23, 14-22), Arkansas-Fort Smith (12-20, 12-20) and Cameron (11-21, 11-19).

The top eight teams reach the LSC postseason tournament, and the Hounds face a tough finishing schedule, beginning with four this weekend at third-place Lubbock Christian (24-10, 22-10).

De La Riva (3-3) gave up two walks and three hits in the first, but allowed just four hits with two walks and five strikeouts after that. Meantime, ENMU chased Rattlers starter Connor Schmidt (0-4) while scoring five runs in each of its first two at-bats for a 10-3 cushion.

"I just couldn't find my fastball (early)," De La Riva said. "I just had to settle down."

Getting the early runs made that a bit easier for him. "That helped out a lot," he said.

ENMU took advantage of four Rattlers errors in the first two innings, although all eight runs against Schmidt were earned. Meantime, the Hounds came up with three double plays on defense.

Relievers John Martinez and Robert Nidy struggled in a six-run St. Mary's eighth. Sophomore right-hander Tommy Perez got the final four outs, picking off Rattlers catcher Easton Parrish at first with the bases loaded to escape the eighth.

"We tried to give some guys out of the bullpen some opportunities," ENMU coach Riley Price said. "It was a tough battle; it seems like about half the conference is fighting to get (into the LSC tournament). It'll be a battle from here on out, and every game counts."

The Hounds were outhit 12-8, but in addition to the errors they took advantage of 13 walks. Designated hitter Spencer Roach and first baseman Nick Schifftner both went 2-for-4 for ENMU, while third baseman Sammy Williamson drew three walks and scored each time.

"I was happy with how we responded after going down three," Price said. "We stayed disciplined (at the plate), and let their pitchers and defense make mistakes."

De La Riva said the Hounds are trying not to get ahead of themselves in the postseason chase.

"We're just worried about winning right now," he said. "We just want to make the conference tournament."

St. Mary's 5-3, ENMU 0-4 (Saturday) - After getting blanked by St. Mary's senior right-hander Steven Medrano in the lidlifter, the Hounds rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to win on right fielder Cooper Hamilton's two-out walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the seventh in Game 2.

Freshman left-hander Ruger Bravo (4-3) continued his solid pitching of late, surviving a bit of a slow start to work a complete-game six-hitter. He walked none and struck out a personal-best 10.

Medrano (3-3) tossed a four-hitter in Game 1, fanning eight. St. Mary's scored in the first on two walks, a balk and first baseman Brandon Broughton's sacrifice fly before breaking up a no-hit bid by ENMU junior Damian Acosta (2-4) on right fielder Clay Bradford's one-out single in the sixth.

The Rattlers chased Acosta (2-4) with a two-run sixth. Bradford's squeeze-bunt single made it 4-0 in the seventh, and he later stole third and continued home on catcher Jack Thompson's throwing error.

ENMU 17, St. Mary's 12 (Sunday) - After combining for 22 walks in Friday's opener, each team drew 10 free passes on Sunday, and six Rattlers hurlers also contributed three hit basemen and a whopping eight wild pitches. On top of that, St. Mary's stranded 13 runners.

ENMU took the lead for good with an eight-run fifth en route to a season high total in runs. Schifftner had three hits and drove in four runs, including a two-run single in the fifth, while Roach doubled home two in that frame and finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

Hamilton collected his LSC-leading seventh triple for ENMU. Bradford and center fielder Ryan McGowen homered for the Rattlers.