Aggies sweep NSU in LSC North opener
UPDATED STATISTICS»
LAWTON, Okla. (March 29) - Cameron opened Lone Star Conference North Division baseball play on the right foot Wednesday, picking up a pair of narrow wins over Northeastern State at McCord Field to improve to 17-14 overall.
Coach Todd Holland's Aggies outscored NSU 10-9 in the opener before getting an eight-inning shutout from pitcher Ryan Totte to pull out a 1-0 victory in the nightcap.
Cameron has now won nine of its last 10 games, with the lone setback in that span a loss to third-ranked Abilene Christian on March 24.
Northeastern jumped on Cameron starter Kacy Groves in Wednesday's opener, tagging this week's LSC North Pitcher of the Week for three runs on three hits, including two homeruns, in the first inning.
The Aggies responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first, scoring first on a wild pitch by NSU starter Kevin Humphrey and scoring two more on a Ryan Whiteley single through the left side. But NSU capitalized on a dropped fly ball to start the top of the third and added four more hits off Groves to score four runs. Joel Garcia's bases-loaded grounder plated the final run of the frame for NSU and put the Redmen in command with a 7-3 lead.
Cameron scored on a John Herbert sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning, but still trailed 7-4 until the bottom of the fourth before regaining the lead for good. The Aggies sent nine batters to the plate in the inning and got five hits, including a two-run homer by B.J. Cole, putting Cameron on top 9-7.
NSU got within a run in the sixth on Eric Humphrey's RBI single, but Cole added his second homer of the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to make it 10-8.
Ryan Bengert came on in the seventh to work mound relief for the Aggies. NSU managed a run on a Cameron erorr, but Bengert collected his second save of the season, leaving two Redmen runners on base.
Cole finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with two homers, three RBI and three runs scored. Whiteley was also 3-for-3 and had a pair of RBI. Groves picked up the mound win despite allowing six earned runs on nine hits in five innings.
Game 2 proved to be much more of a pitcher's duel, with Totte and NSU's Cody Cisper plowing through the other teams' respective linueps. Totte struck out four and allowed just three hits while recording his first shutout of the year. Cisper struck out nine and surrendered just four hits without an earned run.
The Aggies stranded six runners in the game as Cisper worked out of jams in the fifth and seventh innings. Back-to-back singles by Greg Patton and Mark Armstrong had the Aggies in business to start the fifth, but Cisper struck out the next two Cameron hitters and got Kody Wade to fly out to end the threat. In the seventh, Herbert reached on a throwing error and advanced to second on Patton's sacrifice bunt. A ground out to the right side of the infield moved Herbert to third, but Cisper recorded his ninth strikeout of the game to end the inning.
Cameron finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the eighth inning. Cisper retired the first two Aggie hitters, but Waylon Pettet was hit by a pitch and proptly stole second. After a walk to Blake Hughes, both runners advanced on a Cisper wild pitch. Cole then tapped a grounder to short, but the ball was mishandled, allowing Pettet to score the winning run.
Cameron continues LSC North play this weekend in Ada. The Aggies will visit East Central for a three-game series beginning with a Friday doubleheader at 2 p.m. The teams will conclude the series with a single nine-inning contest on Saturday at 1.
