Aggies open with sweep over Mid-America

UPDATED STATISTICS >>

LAWTON, Okla. (Feb. 17) - Senior catcher Chris Balsiger and the rest of the Aggie baseball team got off to a strong start on Tuesday. Balsiger, the preseason player of the year in the Lone Star Conference North Division, went 4-for-5 at the plate to lead Cameron to a pair of wins over Mid-America Christian University in the debut of first-year Aggie head coach Todd Holland. Cameron won by scores of 8-0 and 6-1 to open 2-0 on the young season.

Cameron posted an overall team batting average of .333 for the day, hitting safely in 14 of 42 at-bats. Aggie pitchers also posted a team earned run average of 0.58. Mid-America Christian recorded just six hits on the day, including only one in the first game, for a team batting average of .154.

The Aggies capitalized on four Mid-America errors to take a commanding lead in the opening game. Balsiger tripled in the second and scored on a Steve Clark sacrifice fly to put Cameron up 1-0. But the Aggies erupted for five runs on just two hits in the third frame. Cameron loaded the bases with no outs and scored a pair of runs on a passed ball and a wild pitch. A dropped fly ball by Mid-America scored another run before Clark picked up two more RBIs with a single down the left field line.

Cameron tacked on two more in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Balsiger and a run-scoring ground out by Rick Justic, which ended the game by run-rule.

Garrett Ritter (1-0) picked up the win in Game 1, going four innings while allowing just one hit. He walked four and struck out four.

Cameron again built an early lead in the nightcap. Balsiger singled and scored on a Justice double in the second. Then in the third, the Aggies went for a double-steal with Ben Wyckoff leading the way from second to third. The throw from the catcher sailed down the left field line, allowing Wyckoff to score as Cody Brooks moved from first to third on the play. Two batters later, Derrick Mihecoby lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, staking the Aggies to a 3-0 lead.

The Aggies scored twice in the fourth on an error and RBI groundout by Wyckoff and after Mid-America pushed through a run on three hits in the sixth, Cameron made it 6-1 in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Brooks.

Freshman J.W. Koweno took the mound victory for the Aggies in Game 2, allowing just two hits and no runs in four innings of work.

Holland and the Aggies return to action on Wednesday, hosting Pittsburg State University in a double-header scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., at Cameron's McCord Field. The Aggies also will be at home this weekend, hosting Baker University in a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday.