ENMU garners season's first softball sweep

ODESSA, Texas – Currently just on the outside of the Lone Star Conference tournament picture, Eastern New Mexico University’s softball team came up with its first series sweep of the season on Sunday.

After beating Texas-Permian Basin 5-2 on Saturday, the Greyhounds (20-19, 12-15 LSC) notched 3-2 and 9-1 wins on Sunday over the Falcons (6-26, 3-21). ENMU is currently 11th – the top 10 of the league’s 15 teams make the tourney – but the Hounds are just behind Texas A&M International (15-19, 11-12) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (14-18, 11-13), and not that far away from sixth-place St. Mary’s (23-14,13-11).

“It’s a great feeling going on the road and sweeping for the first time this year,” ENMU coach Amanda Fefel said. “We need to keep the mindset of taking care of us and handling what we can control.”

This weekend, the Hounds have a tough three-game set on tap as they host fourth-ranked and league-leading Texas-Tyler at Greyhound Softball Field. The Patriots (34-4, 22-2) have swept five consecutive LSC series, and come in with 11 consecutive victories and 20 in their last 21 games.

After that, ENMU’s remaining series are with Midwestern State, Texas Woman’s, fourth-place Oklahoma Christian and Kingsville.

Senior center fielder Azalea Martinez homered in both games on Sunday, giving her a team-leading six for the year. Batting .328 for the campaign, 23 of her 41 hits have gone for extra bases and Martinez quietly leads the squad with 35 runs batted in.

Her shot in Sunday’s opener, leading off the sixth, staked the Hounds to a 3-1 advantage. Senior right-hander Brook Leger got the final five outs for her second save, striking out two batters with the bases loaded to end the sixth and leaving two runners stranded in the seventh.

Freshman Ashley Nickerson doubled home the game’s first run in the top of the third, and junior Valeria Contreras hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth for a 2-0 advantage. Freshman Marissa Rodriguez (3-3) got the win with two innings in relief of starter Delia Smith.

In Game 2, Martinez drove in four runs with a first-inning groundout, a fourth-inning two-run homer to center and a fifth-inning RBI fielder’s choice. Leading 2-1, the Hounds erupted for four runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to end the game in five on the eight-run rule.

Junior right-hander Emma Southerland (5-3) scattered four singles and struck out four to notch her fourth complete game. Right fielder Aylene Lucero and second baseman Jokaira Paredes each had a pair of hits, while junior designated player Alondra Vasquez drove in a pair of runs with a double and a fielder’s choice grounder.

ENMU 5, Permian Basin 2 (Saturday) – Leger (10-5) tossed her 11th complete game, allowing seven hits and striking out nine, and Vasquez hit a two-out solo homer in the first as the Hounds snapped a four-game losing streak.

ENMU had just five hits off Falcons right-handers Destini Trahan (3-16) and Abby Cousins. Martinez went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, scoring one run and driving in another, while Paredes gave ENMU a 4-1 margin with a one-out, two-run double in the fourth.