Athletic Report
March 18, 2002

GREYHOUNDS FALL TO ST. MARY'S IN 14 INNINGS
Loss to Defending NCAA Division II Champion Ties ENMU
Record for Longest Game
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Eastern New Mexico University battled the defending NCAA Division II national champions for nearly four hours, but St. Mary's University scored the winning run on a two-out double in the bottom of the 14th inning for a 6-5 win over the Greyhounds, Mar. 18 at V.J. Keefe Stadium. St. Mary's improved to 18-9, while ENMU fell to 9-19. The lengthy contest tied ENMU's record for longest game, originally set on Feb. 5, 1996, when the University of New Mexico edged the Hounds, 8-7 in 14 innings. The Lobos also scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the inning.

Eastern and St. Mary's played ball for 3 hours and 58 minutes before Bryan Gonzalez doubled to right center to score Jeff Wigdahl from second base. The game reached extra innings after St. Mary's tallied two runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Neither team scored in the ninth - the scheduled final inning - or in the 10th, 11th, 12th or 13th stanzas. The score remained 5-5 until St. Mary's tallied the decisive run.

The Hounds scored once in the second inning and twice in the third to take a 3-0 lead over the Rattlers. Ryan Dickson (Sr., DH/1B, Trail, BC/Big Bend C.C.) singled in the second inning. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a single by Xarin Escobedo (Sr., SS, Mexico City, MEX/El Paso C.C.). In the third, Chris Hill (Jr., 2B, Boise, ID/Scottsdale C.C.) walked and Franco Barrero (Jr., 3B, Laredo, TX/Laredo J.C.) was hit by a pitch. Both scored on a triple by Dickson.

St. Mary's scored its first run in the fourth inning. Steve Driffill doubled to open the stanza. He scored one out later, when Rich Davis reached base on a fielding error.

The Hounds increased their lead to 4-1 when Dallas McMann (Jr., C/DH, Amarillo, TX/ Randall H.S.) singled and scored in the top of the fifth. Luz Leal, Jr., (Jr., OF/LHP, Laredo, TX/Alexander Magnet H.S.) recorded the RBI on a single to right field.

In the bottom of the fifth, St. Mary's cut the deficit to a single run, as the Rattlers plated two runners during the inning. One runner scored on a single by Driffill and the other runner reached home plate on a single by Wigdahl.

ENMU starter Ian Thurman-Kelly (So., LHP, Denver, CO/Lamar C.C.) pitched the first five innings for ENMU. Ryan Hess (So., RHP, Surrey, BC/Langley Fine Arts) threw the next 2 2/3 innings, and Trevor Davis (Fr., RHP, Evergreen, CO/Evergreen H.S.) threw the final 6 innings. Davis, who fell to 2-2 with the loss, did not allow an earned run.

The Greyhounds tallied one run in the top of the seventh inning for a 5-3 lead. Hill and McMann started the inning with back-to-back walks. Barrero struck out, but Dickson singled to left field, scoring Hill. McMann was caught in a run down between second and third and was eventually tagged out. Dickson reached second and third on consecutive wild pitches, but relief pitcher J.P. Duan avoided giving up another run by forcing Leal into a ground out.

St. Mary's plated two runs in the eighth to tie the game. Hess forced fly outs by Davis and Gerardo Verastegui, but the Rattlers answered with four consecutive hits. Fernando Tadefa singled through the right side, then David Nelson bunted for hit. Nick Siljendahl singled down the left field line to score Tadefa, and Justin Jenkins singled up the middle to drive in Nelson. Trevor Davis went to the mound for ENMU, and forced Ricky
Bonilla to fly out to end the inning. Five scoreless inning ensued, as Eastern's Davis and Carlos Guevara of St. Mary's started a late-inning pitchers' duel. Guevara limited ENMU to just 2 hits and no walks, while Davis gave up only 4 hits and 2 walks.
Guevara earned the victory to improve to 3-2 on the season. Both teams had chances to score in extra innings. Tadefa walked and reached second in the 10th inning for the Rattlers. Bonilla doubled in the 11th, but pinch-runner Mike Laudermilk was later thrown out at the plate by Mark Wallace (So., CF, Alamogordo, NM/Alamogordo H.S.).

Nelson singled and stole second in the bottom of the 12th, then Dickson singled for ENMU in the 13th. Pinch-runner Ty Deichert (So., UT, Denver, CO/Lamar C.C.) was throw out when Leal hit into a double play on a sacrifice bunt attempt. ENMU had another chance to end the game in the top of the 14th, when Matt Sulli (Sr., OF, Carlsbad, CA/San Diego Mesa College) doubled with two outs, and reached third on a throwing error. Guevara struck out Hill to end the inning.

Wigdahl reached base on an error by Escobedo to start the bottom of the 14th. He moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Davis. Verastegui flied out to center field, but Wigdahl had to remain at second. He scored on the next play, when Gonzalez doubled to right center. Dickson was the only ENMU player with more than one hit. He went 3 for 5 with a run scored and 3 RBIs. Hill scored twice, while McMann and Barrero each scored once. Nelson was 3 for 6, and Jenkins and Wigdahl were 3 for 7, for St. Mary's. Six different players scored for the Rattlers. St. Mary's finished the game with 17 hits, while Eastern earned 7 hits.

ENMU is scheduled to play at St. Edwards University on Wednesday, Mar. 20. First pitch in Austin, Texas is set for 1:00 p.m. (MST).