PORTALES, NM – There were plenty of runs to go around as the Texan offense gave starter Nathan Hickey plenty of run support Friday night en route to a 9-2 victory in the first game of this weekend's four-game series with the Greyhounds.
 
Tarleton got things rolling with a three spot in the opening inning, starting with a two-RBI single from Jake Hasbrouck to plate Austin Call and Blake Adams for a 2-0 Texan lead right off the bat. A passed ball allowed the third run of the inning to come across for a 3-0 advantage.
 
After Hickey kept the Greyhounds off the board in their half of the first, Call brought another run across with an RBI single to center. Two innings later, Eastern New Mexico cut the deficit in half with a two-run fourth inning.
 
That's the closest Tarleton would allow the game to be as Dylan Lemons took a fifth-inning, full-count pitch to deep left field for a solo home run to begin a run of five unanswered runs over the rest of the game. Jake Shelby drove one more in in the fifth with an RBI double before the Texans polished things off in the seventh with RBI singles from Jon Tauzin, Hunter Seales, and an ENMU error for the game's final score.
 
Meanwhile, Hickey was dealing.
 
The junior right-hander threw a career high eight innings and allowed only two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four. He gave way to Chris Reed, who sat the Greyhounds down in order with a strikeout to end the game.
 
Call, Hasbrouck, and Jose Reyes led the 10-hit performance with two hits each while Seales, Shelby, Tauzin, and Lemons each had one hit to round out the offense.
 
Tarleton and Eastern New Mexico will return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. CST for a doubleheader.