Hounds beat St. Edward's 8-3

AUSTIN, Texas – Junior shortstop Willie Ponce drove in three runs and junior right-hander Gavin Perry tossed a complete-game five-hitter on Friday as Eastern New Mexico University defeated St. Edward’s 8-3 in the opener of a four-game Lone Star Conference baseball series.

Ponce’s two-run single capped a three-run third for the Greyhounds (6-7, 6-7 LSC) , and he drove in a run with a bases-loaded fielder’s choice in the seventh. He finished the day 2-for-4 and also scored twice.

Perry (2-2) walked four and struck out six, throwing 113 pitches over nine innings. He finished strong, retiring the final seven Hilltoppers hitters.

ENMU collected eight hits, all singles, off four St. Ed’s hurlers.

Freshman center fielder Tucker Gideon went 2-for-5 and scored twice while junior left fielder Luciano Terilli also went 2-for-4. Junior first baseman Beau Preston was hitless, but drove in a pair of runs with a fielder’s choice grounder and a sacrifice fly.

Junior second baseman Demetrio Archuleta put the Hounds on the board with a bases-loaded groundout in the third before Ponce blooped a single to short right, scoring Gideon and Landon Pyles.

St. Ed’s (4-7, 4-5) struck back in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out, two-run opposite-field double to left-center by senior center fielder Davis Drewek.

Sophomore right-hander Jack Granack (0-2) went six innings for the Hilltoppers, allowing five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. But the Hounds got to the St. Ed’s bullpen for three more in the seventh on Ponce’s RBI fielder’s choice grounder, a bases-loaded walk to senior right fielder Cooper Hamilton and Preston’s run-scoring fielder’s choice.

Perry wild-pitched home a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Hounds put two on the board in the ninth as Hamilton and Ponce worked a double steal and Hamilton scored on a throwing error by junior catcher Diego Solis before Ponce added his sac fly to left.

St. Ed’s committed three errors, and only four of the Hounds’ runs were earned. Hilltoppers pitchers also contributed to their problems with seven walks and a hit batsman.

The teams were slated to play two seven-inning games on Saturday before finishing the series with a nine-inning noon (MST) contest today.

The Hounds return home on Friday to start a four-game series against rival and eighth-ranked West Texas A&M, beginning with a 4 p.m. single tilt on Friday.