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USAO ends CU's win streak
LAWTON, Oklahoma (April 1) – In what may end up being the final non-conference game of the 2008 season, the Cameron Aggie baseball team (24-13, 18-10 LSC) hosted the Drovers of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (14-15, 8-10 SAC) today at McCord Field. The teams matched up in a seven-inning game in what was originally scheduled as the second half of a home-and-home series between the schools. Last week’s game between CU and USAO in Chickasha, Oklahoma, was cancelled due to high winds.
Today at McCord Field the winds were once again blowing incredibly hard, but baseball was played. At the end of the seven inning game the Drovers headed back to Chickasha with a 4-2 win. Cameron had their chances but did not have enough offense to push their seven-game win streak to eight games. The usual Aggie lineup was not used today as CU head coach Todd Holland played a few athletes who do not usually have the chance to start.
“We got kids in the game that hadn’t played much and hadn’t gotten as many at-bats this year,” Head Coach Todd Holland said. “I wanted to see if they could do it because sooner or later down the stretch we will need them. They got more playing time today because we wanted to figure out who could and couldn’t do it.”
The Drovers made a game of it early, putting up two quick runs in the top of the first inning. Cameron bounced back and cut their deficit in half with a single run in the bottom of the first, bringing the score to 2-1. USAO extended their lead to 3-1 after their at-bats in the top of the third inning, and CU once again drew it closer with another run in the bottom half of the frame to make it 3-2.
That was eventually all USAO would need, although they did add an insurance run in the top of the seventh and final inning. As mentioned previously the final score was 4-2 in favor of USAO. The Drovers recorded 9 hits while the Aggies finished with 7 hits. Both teams finished with a pair of extra-base hits.
“We did alright and we pitched okay, but we didn’t hit like I thought we would,” Coach Holland said. “We had tough playing conditions with the 40mph winds, but we needed to (play some new guys) to find out what we could do. We had chances to score but it was just one of those days.”
Freshman pitcher Cody Plunk got the start for Cameron and recorded the loss after going the first 3.0 innings for CU. He allowed 3 runs, all earned, on 6 hits after facing 17 batters. He also threw 3 strikeouts and 2 walks. The loss drops Plunk to 0-1 on the season.
Junior pitchers James Maxwell and Brad Bichel both threw a few pitches in the game, and showed some very impressive talent in their short time on the mound. Maxwell came in to relieve Plunk, and Bichel entered the game for Maxwell. Both pitchers allowed no runs on only 1 hit with 2 strikeouts. Maxwell pitched 2.0 innings and faced 7 batters while Bichel threw only 1.0 inning and faced 4 batters.
In Bichel’s single inning on the mound he threw 13 pitches, each of which went for a strike.
Senior Tyson Moll started in leftfield for CU and was the only Aggie to record multiple hits in the game. He went 2-4 at the plate with a run. He also struck out once.
Two Aggie players hit a double and recorded a stolen base in the game. Senior outfielder Jorey Price and sophomore third-baseman Blake Watson both accomplished the feat after going 1-3 and 1-2, respectively. Watson also had an RBI, while Price scored a run.
The Aggies travel to Canyon, Texas, this weekend to battle West Texas A&M University. The four-game series between the schools was scheduled to start on Friday, but has since been moved to Saturday. The teams will play a double-header on both Saturday and Sunday to complete the series.
“It will be nice to get back on the LSC schedule,” Coach Holland said. “We’ll just keep plugging along in our schedule. The bottom line is that beating USAO couldn’t get us into the postseason, but beating WTAMU could.”
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