Aggie offense fuels sweep of Texans

UPDATED STATISTICS»

LAWTON, Okla. (March 12) - Derrick Mihecoby pounded three homers, including a first-inning grand slam in the nightcap, leading the Cameron baseball team to a double-header sweep of Tarleton State Saturday at McCord Field.

Greg Patton added two homers and five RBI as the Aggies collected 30 runs and 26 hits on the day. Cameron won by scores of 17-16 and 13-6 to improve to 11-6 on the season.

Coach Todd Holland's Aggies fell behind 4-0 in Saturday's opener before evening the score with four runs in the third. Corey Stang doubled to score Trey Chambers and Cody Brooks, then Mihecoby connected for his first round-tripper over the wall in right-center.

The Texans (9-13) answered in the top of the fourth, plating six runs on five hits to chase Cameron starter Eric Pilon. But the Aggies launched a 10-run onslaught in the bottom half of the frame. After Brooks and Matt Castillo got on with walk and hit-by-pitch, Patton homered to right to start the rally. Two batters later, Mihecoby went deep over the raised wall in center field.

The game continued its see-saw battle in the sixth, as Tarleton State regained the lead with five runs in the top of the inning, including a leadoff home run by Paul Muse and a two-run shot by James Fogle.

Cameron evened the score on Castillo's sacrifice fly in the sixth, but Tarleton State took its fourth lead of the game on an RBI single by Rowland Robles in the top of the seventh.

The Aggies scored the come-from-behind victory in the bottom of the seventh. After Mihecoby singled up the middle to start the inning, Rodney DeLong laid down a bunt down the first base line. Tarleton's first baseman fielded the bunt and attempted to force out Mihecoby at second, but an errant throw sent Mihecoby to third and DeLong wound up on second. Holland then went to his bench, sending John Herbert in to pinch hit with the winning run on second. Herbert produced, ending the game with a single to right that scored Mihecoby and DeLong.

Brad Passmore (2-1) got the win on the mound for the Aggies. Passmore faced just one batter in the seventh, forcing the Texans' Heath Owens to line into a double play.

In Saturday's second contest, the Aggies jumped on Tarleton starter Aaron Craver early. Cameron loaded the bases to start the game on a TSU error and two walks before Mihecoby cleared the center field wall for the second time to give Cameron a 4-0 lead. The Aggies sent eight hitters to the plate before recording an out in the inning, capitalizing on two more Tarleton State errors in the frame to make it 7-0 after one inning.

Patton led off the second inning with his second homer of the day to make it 8-0. The Texans cut the lead to 8-3 in the fourth, but Cameron added a run in the bottom half of the inning and pushed across four more runs in the fifth. Mihecoby's two-RBI single up the middle was followed by an RBI double by Herbert and an RBI single by Clint Powell to make it 14-3.

The Texans scored three more in the seventh, but Dustin Henry (2-0) scored a complete game victory on the mound for the Aggies, allowing just eight hits and four earned runs while striking out six.

Next up for the Aggies is a weekend trip to South Texas to face Texas A&M-Kingsville. A four-game series with the Javelinas begins with a Friday doubleheader in Kingsville, Texas.