Softball gets sweep at Panhanlde State

UPDATED STATISTICS»

GOODWELL, Okla. (March 1) - A pair of dominating pitching performances lifted the Cameron softball team to a doubleheader sweep over Oklahoma Panhandle State Wednesday. Lady Aggie pitchers Jessica Hutton and Bethany Stefinsky combined to allow just seven hits and no runs, as Cameron won by scores of 4-0 and 2-0 to improve to 11-12 on the year.

Hutton (6-8) won the opener with her ninth complete game and second shutout of the season. The Choctaw native scattered five hits and struck out three while lowering her team-best ERA to 3.44. Stefinsky (5-4) followed with her own mound gem, striking out 10 OPSU batters and allowing just two hits for another complete-game shutout in the nightcap.

Both efforts were needed, as Cameron hitters struggled at the plate. The Lady Aggies had just two hits of their own in Wednesday's second contest and didn't have a hit in the game until Shelby Davis broke up OPSU pitcher Adrianne Sandall's no-hit bid with a single in the fifth.

Cameron manufactured a run in the top of the first inning of Game 1, using a single by Casey Seabolt to get on the board first. Seabolt advanced around the basepath on a pair of OPSU illegal pitches and Melinda Farrow drew a walk to set up a double-steal situation for the Lady Aggies. Farrow broke for second and, when Panhandle State threw to second, Seabolt scored easily from third.

The score remained 1-0 until the third, when Stephanie Bour opened the frame with a leadoff single and moved to second on Seabolt's sacrifice bunt. A groundout by Shelby Davis advanced Bour, who then scored on a wild pitch to give Cameron a two-run cushion.

Bour scored again in the fifth on an RBI-double by Davis. Farrow rounded out the scoring in the game later in the inning, scoring Davis on an RBI groundout.

Cameron again got on top early in Game 2, scoring a run on two Sandall walks, an error and a wild pitch in the top of the first inning. But Sandall settled in from there and held the Lady Aggies in check until the seventh frame, when Davis wound up on second base after her fly ball to right field was dropped. Farrow moved her over on an infield single to the right side and Stefinsky plated Davis with a groundout to first to make it 2-0.

The runs gave Stefinsky all the buffer she would need. A single in the second and one more in the seventh were the only blemishes for the freshman righty, who like Hutton did not walk a batter on the day. Cameron committed three errors, but still allowed OPSU just five baserunners in the game.

Cameron returns to action on Monday, hosting St. Edward's University in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., at Cameron Field.