Lady Buffs play long ball to sweep past Hounds

PORTALES – The wind was definitely blowing out for Wednesday's Lone Star Conference doubleheader at Greyhound Softball Field.

That wasn't good news for the home side.

West Texas A&M, ranked No. 20 in NCAA Division II, pummeled eight home runs to notch 13-3 and 13-5 victories and complete a three-game series sweep of Eastern New Mexico University.

Emilee Boyer, a 6-foot-1 freshman from South Dakota, was the primary culprit. She launched solo shots in her first three at-bats in the opener and finished off a game-breaking, seven-run seventh in Game 2 with a grand slam, moments after ENMU freshman Marissa Rodriguez pulled the Greyhounds to within a run with her own sixth-inning slam.

Her home run gave the Hounds (17-19, 9-15 LSC) some hope, but a questionable safe call at first base to begin the seventh, and an error that followed on the next hitter, opened the door for WT (26-4, 17-4). The Lady Buffs are second in the LSC behind fourth-ranked Texas-Tyler, which swept them in an early-season, three-game set.

While not happy with the arbitors in general, Hounds coach Amanda Fefel said a lot of the problem gets back to "executing and making the routine outs" in the field. ENMU, currently 12th in the 15-team circuit with the top 10 qualifying for the LSC meet, was looking to make up ground when it began a three-game series on Saturday at Texas-Permian (6-23, 3-18).

So far ENMU is 4-4 in league series. The problem is they've now been swept three times.

"The league is up and down right now," Fefel said. "You have a lot of teams in the middle trying to make it into the conference tournament.

"We just have to fight right now. We need to put ourselves in a position to come out and win series."

Eight of WT's 12 hits in the opener went for extra bases, including the first seven. Senior right-hander Emilee Wilson (3-0) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings before sophomore Emma Parrish finished.

"Emilee did a good job of mixing it up and keeping them off balance," said veteran WT coach Michael Mook, who led the Lady Buffs to the 2021 NCAA Division II championship. "And we played good defense behind her."

Neither Lady Buffs hurler recorded a walk or a strikeout in the contest. It was only the second time this season that the Hounds have been run-ruled.

WT scored in five of the six innings as Fefel threw four pitchers into the fray, including starter Delia Smith (1-7), who came back to finish the sixth inning.

In Game 2, WT led 3-1 into the fifth before junior Gabie Laforte appeared to put it out of reach with a three-run homer off Rodriguez. A walk and two singles set the stage, though, for Rodriguez to put ENMU back in the game with her blast to left-center an inning later.

Senior right-hander Kyra Lair (10-1) went six innings to earn her second win of the series. Junior right fielder Chanler Groves led a nine-hit Hounds attack, going 3-for-4.

"I'm not going to take anything away from WT," Fefel said. "They're a powerhouse, and just a fundamentally sound team."

Mook acknowledged that the wind was a factor in how things played out.

"It changes the game," he said. "Offensively, I thought we did a really good job of putting up runs, and our pitchers did a good job of keeping the ball in the park."

WT 6, ENMU 4 (Tuesday) – Run-scoring singles by Salzman and senior third baseman Diana Murtha broke a tie in the top of the seventh and gave the Lady Buffs the series opener.

Junior catcher Alondra Vasquez singled home the game's first run in the bottom of the fourth, but WT put together a four-run third capped by junior first baseman Megan Guericke's three-run homer to left-center off ENMU starter Brook Leger.

The Hounds chased WT starter Boyer in a three-run fourth which tied the score. Freshman second baseman Edyn Lopez doubled home a run with two out, then scored when Patterson singled and the ball was booted in the outfield before freshman first baseman Ashley Nickerson singled home Patterson.

ENMU outhit the Lady Buffs 8-6, with Nickerson going 2-for-4 to post the only multi-hit game on either side.