Aggies drop season opener to Pitt State

Game 1»
Game 2»

LAWTON, Okla. (Feb. 4) - Two errors in the first game and four in the second proved disastrous for the Cameron baseball team on Saturday during its season opener against Pittsburg State at McCord Field.

Coach Todd Holland's pitching staff didn't allow a single earned run, but the Aggies lost by scores of 4-1 and 2-1, with the nighcap defeat coming in extra innings.

Newcomer Art Gonzales, a transfer from Division I Texas-San Antonio, took the loss for the Aggies in Game 1. Returning senior Kacy Groves worked one inning of relief in the second contest to take the loss. The Aggie pitchers, along with Game 2 starter L.J. Willis and Game 1 reliever Ryan Totte, combined to allow just 11 hits on the afternoon while collecting seven strikeouts.

But defensive miscues came early and plagued the Aggies throughout the doubleheader. Pittsburg State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the opener, using a two-out bases-clearing triple by John Brummett to capitalize on an Aggie error. The Gorillas then made it 4-0 in the second, when Jacob Boan struck out and reached base on a throwing error before scoring on an RBI double by Robby Oldaker.

Cameron got its only run of the game in the fourth. B.J. Cole reached on a PSU error and beat the throw at second on a fielder's choice. After a walk to Ryan Whiteley loaded the bases for the Aggies, Mark Armstrong was hit by a pitch to pick up the RBI.

Runs were again hard to come by for the Aggies in the nightcap, as Pittsburg State starter Kyle Sosna held Cameron scoreless through the first six innings. But trailing 1-0 after the Gorillas pulled off a suicide squeeze in the top of the sixth, Cameron finally got the big hit it was lacking. After Matt Machinski led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to left field and advanced on Trey Chambers' sacrifice bunt, Blake Hughes doubled down the left field line with two outs to knot the score at 1-1.

But two more Aggie errors in the top of the eighth gave PSU a 2-1 lead and Mike Eckel worked the bottom half of the inning in relief for the Gorillas to get the save.

Cameron will have 10 days off before resuming the 2006 schedule on Valentine's Day against the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma. First pitch against the Drovers at Cameron's McCord Field is set for 1 p.m.