PORTALES, NM – The No. 24 Angelo State Rambelle softball team competed against the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds in Portales, run-runling the competition and defeating Eastern New Mexico in five innings in both games, 14-5 in game one and 17-4 in game two.
 
Game One:
Ashlyn Lerma kicked things off for the Rambelles hitting a bunt for a single and beating the throw to first. Courtney Barnhill stepped into the batters box for ASU, where she reached first on an error from the right fielder and advancing to second on the throw, with Lerma advancing to third and into scoring position in the top of the first inning. Barnhill advanced to third on another wild pitch, and Lerma scored a run for the Rambelles to take a 1-0 lead over the Greyhounds. Barnhill scored another run shortly afterwards as Mykayla Stroud hit a sacrifice fly out to the center fielder to extend ASUs lead to 2-0.
 
With Genesis Armedariz in the circle for the Belles, the Rambelles quickly ended the first inning as all three batters would ground out to Armendariz for a three up, three out situation.
 
Jade Strother smashed a ball over the left center fence to bring ASUs lead to 3-0 over the Greyhounds to start the second inning. Haylie Mitchell showed off her speed as she hit a bunt and beat the throw to first, where she shortly afterwards stole second base with Lerma back to in the batters box at the top of the lineup.
 
Lerma smashed a triple into left center field, registering an RBI and scoring Mitchell from second base. Ashlynn Box lined out that turned into a double play as Lerma was thrown out to lead to the bottom of the second inning.
 
Eastern New Mexico managed to score a run in the bottom of the second, but Armendariz and the Rambelles defense quickly took care of the Greyhounds offense, with one batter grounding out to the second baseman, the second out coming from a thrown strikeout from Armendariz, and foul ball to the catcher ended the Greyhounds attempt to continue their offensive push and gave the Rambelles control of the batters box once again.
 
Barnhill would be hit by a pitch and walked to first where she stole second base shortly afterwards, with Madison Fernandez up to bat for the Rambelles. Stroud smacked a home run outside of the left field fence, scoring three runs and 3 RBI to bring ASU to a six-run lead over ENMU, 7-1, with Armendariz to step into the box for the Rambelles.
 
Armendariz and the Rambelle defense quickly brought the Greyhounds offense to a halt in the bottom of the third as Armendariz struck the first batter out looking, with the second out coming from ground ball to the catcher, and the final out came from a grounder to the pitcher to give the Blue and Gold another chance to get their offense going.
 
Box smashed a single up the middle of the field and advanced to second on the throw, advancing Lerma to third to put the Rambelles in scoring position. Barnhill was hit by another pitch to load the bases for Angelo State as Fernandez took the plate for the Blue and Gold. Fernandez smashed a double to deep right field, scoring Lerma and Box for two RBI, and advancing Barnhill to third.
 
ENMU smashed a home run to cut their deficit by three to trail the Rambelles by five, 9-4, but the defense and Armendariz held strong as two runners popped up to the second baseman, and the third grounded out to the second baseman.
 
Paxton Scheurer hit a single out into center field to begin the top of the fifth inning, advancing to second on a single from Mitchell. Lerma reached first on an error from the shortstop, with Mitchell advancing all the way to third on the error, while Scheurer scored a run to put Angelo State in a six-run lead over the Greyhounds.
 
Box crushed a home run over the center field fence to score three runs and extend ASUs lead to 13-4 over Eastern New Mexico. Avery Zeigler came to pinch hit for Barnhill, grounding out to the pitcher for the second out, bringing Fernandez up to bat for ASU. Fernandez smacked a ball out of the park over the right center field fence to bring the Rambelles lead to 10 over Eastern New Mexico at 14-4 before the Greyhounds managed to get the third out.
 
Eastern New Mexico managed to score one run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Rambelles defense proved too much for the Greyhounds as Torrey Hogan struck one batter out looking, the second flew out to the left fielder, and the third out came from an unassisted grounder to the first baseman to give Angelo State the win off of a run rule to defeat the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds in game one, 14-5.
 
Key Players:

• Lerma had four at-bats, scoring three runs and registering three hits, one RBI, and one triple against the Greyhounds.
• Box had four at-bats, scoring two runs and registering two hits and three RBI for the Rambelles.
• Fernandez had two at-bats, scoring two runs and registering two hits, one double, and three RBI to end the first game.
• Armendariz pitched for three innings, throwing two strikeouts and facing 13 batters.
• Hogan pitched in relief for Armendariz for two innings, throwing one strikeout and facing 12 batters.

 
Game Two:
Angelo State got the bats rolling in the top of the second inning, with Fernandez being walked and Stroud reaching first on a fielding error from the third baseman, advancing Fernandez to second. Jade Strother smashed a single into left field to load the bases up for the Rambelles with Hatty Shope up to bat for Angelo State.
 
Shope reached first on a fielders choice, advancing Stroud to third and Strother to second while Fernandez was thrown out at home. Mitchell was walked which resulted in an RBI for her as Stroud scored a run for ASU to take a 1-0 lead over ENMU. Keilei Garcia reached first on a single and advanced to second on the throw as Shope and Strother both scored a run to extend the Rambelles lead to 3-0. Mitchell advanced into scoring position at third for ASU.
 
Lerma lined out to the third baseman for the second out of the inning to bring Box up to bat for the Blue and Gold, where Box hit a double into left field, resulting in two RBI as Mitchell and Garcia both scored runs to bring ASU to a 5-0 lead over the Greyhounds. Barnhill hit a single deep into left field and advanced to second on the throw, scoring Box from second to further extend the Rambelles lead to six over ENMU, 6-0.
 
Eastern New Mexico managed to score a run in the bottom of the second, but the Rambelle defense, with Makayla Corbin in the circle for ASU, remained on guard and sent the Greyhounds back to the dugout as Corbin struck out the first two batters out swinging, with the third out coming from a line drive straight to the third basemans glove to give Angelo State another chance at bat.
 
The Rambelles defense returned to the diamond to face the Greyhound offense once again in the bottom of the third inning, where the Greyhounds managed to get two runners on base, but the Blue and Gold remained focused and ready as the first batter hit a fly ball out to the center fielder and the second out came from a fly ball out to the left fielder. Corbin struck out the final batter swinging to once again give the Rambelles another chance to get their bats going.
 
Mitchell reached first on a bunt to start the top of the fourth inning off for Angelo State, stealing second shortly afterwards with Garcia up to bat for the Blue and Gold, where she smashed a double deep into left center field and scoring Mitchell to bring the Rambelles lead back to six over ENMU, 7-1. Lerma hit a single to the shortstop and beat the throw, advancing Garcia to third and into scoring position. Lerma stole second shortly afterwards.
 
Box walked to first and loaded the bases as Barnhill came up to bat for Angelo State, and would also be walked, sending Garcia home and extended the Rambelles lead to 8-1 over Eastern New Mexico. Strother was hit by a pitch and walked to first, advancing Box to home to register yet another RBI for the Rambelles and score another run to take a 10-1 lead.
 
Barnhill scored another run off of a wild pitch, advancing Strother to second and Fernandez to third, and extending the Rambelles lead to 10 runs over the Greyhounds, 11-1.
 
The Greyhounds scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth, smashing a home run over the fence and registering a triple to bring the score to 11-4, but Corbin stayed focused and calm within the circle, striking one batter out while swinging, while one batter fouled out to the catcher and the other grounded out to the first baseman unassisted.
 
The Rambelles scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning, with Ashton Dirner registering a triple and Barnhill smacking a double into deep left center field. Paxton Scheurer hit a double down the left field line to score two runs, while Garcia hit a double into right field to score the final two runs of the inning. The Greyhounds attempted to score in the bottom of the fifth, but the Rambelle defense proved too much for Eastern New Mexico as Angelo State swept the Greyhounds in both games, 14-5 in game one and 17-4 in game two.
 
Key Players:

• Lerma had three at-bats, scoring one run and registering one hit and one stolen base.
• Box had three at-bats, scoring three runs and registering one hit, two RBI, and one double for the Rambelles.
• Barnhill had three at-bats, scoring two runs and registering two hits, three RBI, and one double against the Greyhounds.
• Corbin pitched for 3.1 innings, throwing five strikeouts and facing 14 batters.
• Victoria Vasquez came in and pitched relief for Corbin, pitching for 1.2 innings, throwing two strikeouts and facing nine batters.

 
Up Next:
The Rambelles travel to Canyon, Texas and face the No. 19 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs in their second doubleheader for the weekend on Sunday, March 14. Game one will begin at 1 p.m. and game two will start at 3:30 p.m.