PHOTO GALLERY: #RamBaseball @ ENMU

PORTALES, N.M. – The first opportunity to secure a spot in next week's Lone Star Conference baseball tournament slipped away from Angelo State in a 7-6 extra-inning loss to Eastern New Mexico on Friday at Greyhound Field.

ASU (25-23, 14-19 LSC) needs one win in its three-game set this weekend against the Greyhounds (25-23, 14-19 LSC) and looked to have control in the opener. The Rams jumped out to a 6-1 lead through two innings, but ENMU mounted a late-inning comeback, scoring one in the eighth and two in the ninth to force extra innings. With the bases loaded and two outs, Rawley Gomez hit a single through the middle of the inning to score the game-winning run.

The Rams opened scoring in the first inning with David Goggin hitting a triple to right field to score Cameron Massengill from first base after he had reached on a fielder's choice. Goggin would score on a Christian Summers double for the second run of the first inning to give ASU the early advantage. After ENMU responded with a run in the first, ASU scored four runs on five hits in the second inning. Tyler Coughenour hit a one-out single to start the output and scored on a Massengill single up the middle. Goggin doubled down the right field line to set up a second and third situation and Summers came through with an infield single to drive in Massengill. Brett David followed with a two-run triple to score Goggin and Summers.

While ASU would go scoreless the next eight innings, ENMU slowly started chipping away. The Greyhound cut the lead to 6-2 with a run in the third with a Dylan Nault RBI single and tacked on another run when Austin Edwards hit a double to left field to score Nault. The Greyhounds cut the lead to three with another run in the eighth with Ryan Pecotte hitting an RBI double and then tied the game when Steven Moore hit a two-out, two-run double that ASU center fielder Nehwon Norkeh nearly made a game-saving diving catch on in the left-center field gap.

Jake Feckley (5-5) received the loss after throwing 4 2/3 innings of relief of starting pitcher Jason Zgardowski who went five innings. Feckley recorded four strikeouts and walked only one, but ENMU put together eight hits against him and took advantage of an error. The Greyhounds only scored four earned runs in the game against the Rams, including an error which would have ended the game in the ninth.

The Rams finished the game with 13 hits, but stranded six runners on base. Summers led ASU by going 4-for-5 with two RBI, while Zapata went 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot in the lineup. Goggin finished the game 2-for-5 and Coughenour also had a two-hit game.

Matthew Artalejo (7-5) earned the complete-game win for the Greyhounds, throwing 10 innings with five strikeouts and surviving the 13-hit game from the Rams. Brett Ackerman led the Greyhounds at the plate going 4-for-5, while Sam Hedrick and Nault each had 3-for-5 performances.

The three-game set resumes at 2 p.m. (CST) on Saturday with a doubleheader to complete the regular season. ENMU needs to win both games to reach the conference tournament, while the Rams would secure their ticket with one win.