Greyhounds Fall to St. Mary's, 6-2

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Starting pitcher Jeff Wigdahl limited Eastern New Mexico University to four hits and two runs over the first seven innings, sending St. Mary’s University on its way to a 6-2 victory over the Greyhounds, March 18 at V.J. Keefe Stadium. The Rattlers upped their overall record to 21-5 with the win, while improving to 19-3 at home. ENMU fell to 7-24 on the season.

The win gave St. Mary’s, ranked #16 in NCAA Division II, a 3-0 record against ENMU this year, with all three games played at V.J. Keefe Stadium. The Rattlers edged the Greyhounds, 5-3, in the Southwest Shootout on Feb. 1 and defeated Eastern, 5-4, on March 17.

While Wigdahl and reliever Otto Staudt were combining for a five-hitter on the mound, the Rattlers were connecting for 14 hits on offense. Derek Nelson led the way with 3 hits in 4 at bats, while Ryan Hill went 3 for 5 and Ricky Bonilla was 2 for 4.

The Rattlers slowly built a 5-0 lead by tallying single runs in each of the first three innings, then adding two runs in the fourth stanza. John Alvarez drove in Ian Grigar with the first run on a single to center field. Russell Hodges bought home Nelson with the second run on another single to center. Brian Faseler drove in Hill with the third run on a two-out single to shortstop.

Hodges opened the fourth inning with a bunt single and later scored on a one-out double by Bonilla. Hill also hit a double, allowing Bonilla to cross the plate. Alvarez singled one out later, but Hill was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Justin Gee (Fr., Clovis, NM/Clovis HS).

The Greyhounds finally pushed across a run in the top of the sixth inning. Trevor Albritton (Fr., 2B/SS, Roswell, NM/Roswell HS) walked to open the inning. Boyd Erickson (Jr., RF, Anchorage, AK/Victor Valley CC) followed with a double, but Albritton was thrown out at the plate. Erickson then scored on a single through the left side by Dallas McMann (Sr., C, Amarillo, TX/Randall HS). Wigdahl forced a fly out and a strikeout to end the inning.

ENMU also scored once in the seventh inning. Shawn Peterson (Jr., SS, Miles City, MT/Scottsdale CC) pinch hit for Gee as the first batter in the inning. He was hit by a pitch, moved to second when Boe Parr (Fr., C, Santa Fe, NM/Capital HS) walked, then reached third on a ground out to the pitcher by Steven Romano (Sr., SS/3B, Las Cruces, NM/Onate HS). Peterson scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Wallace (So., CF, Alamogordo, NM/Alamogordo HS).

The Rattlers tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Hodges walked, moved to second on a passed ball and reached third on a wild pitch. Grigar, who was batting when the passed ball and the wild pitch occurred, drove in Hodges with a single to center field.

Wigdahl struck out nine ENMU batters and improved to 6-2 on the season. Staudt added two strikeouts over the final two innings to record his first save.

Josh Sellers (Fr., RHP, Early, TX/Brownwood HS) threw four innings for ENMU. He gave up 11 hits and five runs, with two strikeouts and one walk. He fell to 2-1 with the loss.
Michael Cervera (Sr., RHP, El Paso, TX/El Paso CC), David Swinconos (Fr., LHP, Wolfforth, TX/Frenship HS), Jerry Macias (Sr., RHP, Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces HS) and Ian Thurman-Kelly (Jr., LHP, Denver, CO/Lamar CC) each threw one inning of relief for Eastern. The run by Hodges off Thurman-Kelly in the eighth inning was the only run scored by the Rattlers against an ENMU reliever.

Erickson was the only Greyhound with more than one hit. He went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. McMann, Peterson and Romano each hit one single for Eastern.
Neither team committed an error during the game. Even so, there were two wild pitches and a passed ball by the Greyhounds, plus one hit batsmen by each of the pitchers for St. Mary’s.

Eastern New Mexico University will play another road game on Wednesday, March 18, when they take on St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. First pitch in the 9-inning game is slated for 1 p.m. (MST).