CANYON, Texas – The #15 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M continued their hot start to the season on Saturday afternoon as they scored 25 unanswered runs in a doubleheader sweep of Eastern New Mexico to clinch the Lone Star Conference weekend series at Greyhound Field in Portales.
 
The Buffs look for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon as first pitch for the series finale is set for 2 p.m. CT at Greyhound Field.
 
GAME ONE
The Greyhounds struck first in the home half of the second inning as Camden Matthews grounded out to second base with the bases loaded and one out to plate Braeton Matthews for the 1-0 advantage.
 
WT responded in the top of the third as Ryan Johnson singled to center to plate Paul Wittmann followed by a bases-clearing double to the left center field gap by Adam Becker and an RBI double down the line by Mike Manetta to make it 5-1.
 
The Buffs added to their lead in the fourth as Johnson doubled to left center to score Eddy Savoie followed later in the frame by Becker's third RBI of the game, this time a sac fly to center to plate Johnson. WT continued their offensive explosion with a Will Fuenning RBI triple to the gap in right center as ENMU made a call to the bullpen. 
 
Manetta drove in Fuenning with an RBI single to left center followed by a Jacob Butler two-run single up the middle to extend the lead to 11-1. Savoie doubled to the gap in left center to plate two more before Johnson jumped on a fastball for a two-run bomb to left to extend the lead to 15-1.
 
WT added to their lead in the sixth as Zach Kaminkow and Becker drew bases loaded walks with no outs followed by a Glenn Noronha RBI infield single to plate Johnson, Clay Artho drew an RBI free pass followed by an RBI single to right by Kix Ferrel. An infield error by the Hounds plated another run followed by a Butler base hit thru the left side to extend the lead to 22-1.
 
Nick Marshall was solid again on the mound as the sophomore picked up the win (2-0) for the Buffs, allowing one unearned run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts in his five innings of work. Ben Crist made his WT debut in the sixth as the Texico native allowed no runs on just one hit with a walk and a strikeout in the final two frames.
 
GAME TWO
The Buffs jumped out to an early lead in the nightcap as Badgett singled up the middle with one out to drive in Savoie followed later in the frame by a Manetta two-run double to make it 3-0. ENMU answered in the home half of the frame as Cooper Hamilton drew a bases loaded walk with two outs to cut the lead to 3-1.
 
ENMU took their first lead of the nightcap in the home half of the second inning as Dax Edmonds single to right to score Nick Schifftner followed by a fielder's choice groundout and a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded for the 4-3 lead. The Buffs responded in the top of the third as Fuenning scored on a fielder's choice followed by a Johnson RBI walk and an ENMU errant throw with two outs to give WT the 7-4 lead.
 
The Hounds cut into the lead again in the third as a WT fielding error with one out plated an ENMU run to make it 7-5, Eastern wasn't done as they cut the lead to a run in the home half of the sixth on a wild pitch to score Edmonds before Chris Rodriguez entered from the pen and got a big ground ball to send the teams to the seventh with WT leading 7-6.
 
ENMU made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh as the leadoff reached on a fielding error before Becker made a diving catch on a potential sac bunt for the first out, the Hounds drew a walk before Rodriguez registered a strikeout followed by a sliding play in center by Wittmann to close out the game.
 
Colton Charnholm picked up the win (1-0) for the Buffs as the junior allowed four runs (two earned) on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts in his 2.0 innings of work, Rodriguez claimed his fourth career save as the El Paso product allowed no hits with a walk and a strikeout in the final 1.1 frames.