Offensive struggles continue for Aggies

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LAWTON, Okla. (Feb. 14) - Four times the Cameron baseball team loaded the bases in Tuesday's doubleheader with the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma at McCord Field. And four times the Aggies came away empty-handed.

The result kept Coach Todd Holland's squad winless, as the Aggies fell to 0-4 with losses of 6-1 and 5-1 to the Drovers. Cameron pitchers combined to allow just 15 hits and eight earned runs on the afternoon. Aggie hitters, meanwhile, registered just 13 hits, including just two extra-base knocks, and stranded 20 runners on base.

Blake Hughes and Ryan Whiteley each collected two hits in Tuesday's opening game, while Matt Machinski plated Cameron's only run for the Aggies with an RBI-double in the second inning. B.J. Cole got the Aggies on the board in the nightcap with a run-scoring double in the fourth and finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate.

But those were the only highlights for the Aggie offense, which has stumbled to a .226 team batting average so far this season after establishing a new school record with a .352 team hitting mark last season.

"It's frustrating right now because our pitchers have done a good job so far and we're just not getting the hits when we need them," Holland said. "But the good thing is that it is very early in the season and when we get a couple of kids back in the lineup from injury we should be fine."

USAO wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in Game 1, plating three runs on three hits off Aggie starter Ryan Bengert in the first inning. Bengert settled in to allow just three hits the rest of the way, however, before yeilding to Ryan Totte at the start of the sixth inning with USAO up 4-1.

Cameron left the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth innings. Back-to-back singles by John Herbert and Whiteley in the fourth were followed by a bunt popout, a walk and two flyouts. The Aggies filled the bags on a single and two walks in the fifth.

USAO extended its lead on Grady Wood's two-run homer down the left field line in the top of the sixth. After a leadoff walk to Cameron's Matt Machinski in the bottom half of the frame, Drover pitchers retired the next five Aggie hitters to end the game.

Justin Ferguson (1-0) got the win for the Drovers, scattering six hits over six innings. Matt Malory worked the seventh for USAO, retiring all three Cameron batters he faced. Bengert (0-1) took the loss for Cameron, striking out five and allowing six hits in five innings of work.

Cameron trailed just 2-1 through five innings in Tuesday's second contest before USAO scored a run on a wild pitch in the sixth and added two more on a two-RBI double down the left field line by Kyle Bradburry in the seventh.

The Aggies finished with more hits (7) than USAO (6), but left the bases loaded in both the second and third innings and managed just two hits off Drover starter Pat Bridges after that.

Cameron will look to collect its first win of the season on the road this weekend. The Aggies are scheduled to visit Angelo State for a four-game series beginning Saturday, weather permitting, in San Angelo, Texas. Next home action for Cameron is set for Feb. 24-25, against West Texas A&M.