No. 12 Angelo State crushes Hounds

PORTALES — Angelo State wasted no time making short work of Eastern New Mexico University on Thursday night.

The Rams, ranked 12th in NCAA Division II, put seven runs on the board in the top of the first — all after two were out — and added three more frames of at least four runs in routing ENMU 25-4 in the opener of a four-game Lone Star Conference baseball series at Greyhound Field.

Freshman catcher Tripp Clark’s three-run triple keyed the first-inning eruption for the Rams (29-10, 27-10 LSC). They made the night easy for junior left-hander Benjamin Elder (5-2), who tossed five innings and allowed three runs on six hits with four strikeouts.

ASU posted 27 hits in a game shortened to seven innings by the run rule, including six players with at least three hits. Angelo banged out 10 doubles in the contest.

Freshman Austin Beck and sophomore Thomas Cain both had four hits for the Rams, while Cain, Clark and juniors Justin Lee and Aaron Walters all finished with three RBIs.

Five Rams came around to score three runs.

Right fielder Cooper Hamilton hit his LSC-leading eighth triple of the season to drive in a run for the Greyhounds (15-22, 14-21), and came home on an infield RBI single by freshman designated hitter Spencer Roach. The Hounds picked up a run in the fourth on sophomore Braeton Matthews’ sacrifice fly, and added one in the seventh against reliever Parker Tennill on a bases-loaded walk to Kian Johnston.

Four ENMU pitchers combined to hit three batters, walk five and toss six wild pitches. Defensively, the Hounds committed four errors, although only two ASU runs were unearned.

The teams were slated to play a pair of seven-inning games on Friday before finishing off the series with a single nine-inning game on Saturday. The Hounds return to action with a four-game series this weekend at Texas A&M International, beginning with a 1 p.m. single game on Friday.