The Angelo State baseball team (15-12, 9-9 LSC) dropped the first game of the twin bill, 9-5, to Eastern New Mexico (12-11, 10-8 LSC) before coming back to take the nightcap, 8-3, Friday at Foster Field.
As has been the case in every weekend series this season, ASU could not find a way to score more runs than the opposition in the opener. But, in Friday's case the ASU defense found a way to give the Greyhounds help as they committed four errors that led to six unearned runs that started with one unearned run in the very first inning and ended with one in the seventh.
Eastern New Mexico got things started in the first when Sean Cruce reached on the first error of the game and came home with Jereme Johnson on Ethan Wagner's two-run double. ENMU would add one more run in the frame when Chris Eaton singled up the middle bringing home Wagner to put the Rams in a hole, 3-0, before their first at bat.
The Rams got two of the runs back in their half of the first on an RBI-triple by Keith Towne, the first triple of his ASU career, into the right field corner which plated Isaac Garcia. Dylan Petrich cut the deficit to one run, 3-2, on an RBI-double in almost the exact same spot scoring Towne.
The Greyhounds stretched its margin to two runs, 4-2 in the third on a lead-off walk by Johnson, a single up the middle by Wagner which moved Johnson to third and a sacrifice fly by Eaton that scored Johnson. The Rams would get that run back in the bottom of the third when Chris Adamson sent his third home run of the season over the right centerfield wall.
In the bottom of the fourth, ASU grabbed its only lead of the game when on a two-out RBI-triple by Zak Leonhardt followed by an RBI-single by Adamson. However, The Rams would give up the lead when the Greyhounds would tie the game on ASU's second faux pas of the afternoon allowing Garrett Cook to come home and even the score at 5-5.
Eastern New Mexico would grab the lead for good in the sixth with three unearned runs to take an 8-5 lead and added another run in the seventh with an unearned run. Adam Miller took the loss, seeing his record fall to 1-1, as he was tagged with all nine runs, only four of which were earned, on 11 hits with two strikeouts and three walks.
After a closed-door team meeting between games one and two, the Rams came out with a little more purpose and took the first lead of the game with a two-out rally in the second which began with an Austin Lasprilla walk and a stolen base and ended with Zach Klink RBI-single up the middle which scored Lasprilla. ASU made the score 2-0 in the third on back-to-back singles by Petrich and Leonhardt to open the inning and a sacrifice fly by Matt Lenderman which scored Petrich.
After the 'Hounds cut the deficit to 2-1 with a run in the fourth, the Rams pushed their advantage back to two, 3-1, on a Clay Puckett double and a single up the middle by Garcia. ASU doubled its run output with three runs in the fifth on a two-run single by Lenderman and an RBI-single by Klink.
The Rams made it 7-3 in the seventh on an opposite-field single by Scott Pollard which scored Lenderman and, after ENMU scored a run in the eighth, the Rams tallied their final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth on Lenderman's fourth RBI of the game, a single up the middle which scored Leonhardt from second. ENMU ended the scoring in the ninth with a run just in front of the final out of the game.
Phillip Clinard pitched the first five innings of the game and got the win, evening his record at 2-2 and giving up only one unearned run on five hits while striking out five and walking none. Doug McIntyre took the loss for ENMU and saw his record drop to 1-3.
The Rams and Greyhounds conclude their four-game series on Saturday with another doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. and there will be no broadcast of the games but live stats will be available on AngeloSports.com.
