Aggies rally to top Southwestern

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LAWTON, Okla. (March 28) - Southwestern Oklahoma State pitcher Johnny Dillard held the Cameron baseball team to just one hit through six innings on Sunday. But the Aggies exploded for five runs in the bottom of the seventh, rallying for a 6-3 win in Lone Star Conference North Division action at Cameron's McCord Field.

Both teams return to the diamond on Monday, completing the three-game series with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Sunday's victory moved Cameron to 2-1 in conference play and 16-7 overall. Southwestern lost its third straight and fifth in its last six games, falling to 18-8 and 0-3 in league play.

Coach Charles Teasley's Bulldogs appeared to have the game in control as Dillard held the Aggies in check for much of the game. Cameron's only hit in the first six innings came on a second-inning single by Rodney DeLong.

But Dillard had seven walks with no strikeouts and hit four batters, including three against Aggie junior Cody Brooks. When Dillard opened the seventh with back-to-back walks to Kenneth Cox and Ben Wyckoff, Teasley lifted the sophomore right-hander in favor of reliever Landon Harms.

Cameron took advantage of the move, tagging Harms for three hits, including a two-run triple by senior Chris Balsiger that gave the Aggies the lead at 4-3 and chased Harms from the game. Balsiger then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Brooks, capping a five-run inning for the Aggies that made it 5-3.

The Aggies added an insurance run in the eighth on Steve Clark's single through the left side and Allen Mitchell came on to work the ninth inning, earning his second save of the season.

Brad Passmore (2-1) picked up the victory on the mound for the Aggies, pitching a little over an inning of scoreless ball. Passmore worked the seventh and eighth innings, relieving Cameron starter Garrett Ritter, who allowed just two earned runs in just under seven innings of work.

Harms (2-3) took the loss for the Bulldogs, allowing three earned runs on three hits in one-third of an inning.

Southwestern built an early lead in the game, plating two runs in the top of the first on Jason Looper's single down the right field line. The Bulldogs made it 3-0 in the top of the seventh on an RBI-single by Dan Dody.