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Aggies split with 'Toppers in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (February 4) – Playing their sixth and seventh games in four days, the Cameron Aggie softball team (4-3) today split their afternoon double-dip with the St. Edward’s University Hilltoppers (5-2). The Aggies played five games over the weekend at the St. Mary’s University Invitational, and stayed in the Lone Star State to take on a very tough St. Ed’s team today. This afternoon CU was shutout in the first game 6-0, but rebounded and came from behind to win the nightcap, 7-6.
“Today was a good test since we were playing at somebody’s home,” Head Coach Richie Nye said. “Over the weekend we played a bunch of neutral games but today was a real road test. There is nothing wrong with splitting on the road at somebody else’s house, especially when they are a really good team like St. Ed’s.”
In the first game, the Hilltoppers opened up a three-run lead in the third inning thanks to an error and a two-run homerun. SEU padded their lead in the fifth inning courtesy of five hits that brought in three runs. CU was held to just 3 hits in the game.
Senior outfielder Sammi Adams and junior first-baseman both went 1-3 in the game with singles. Boren also struck out once in the game.
Whitney Richardson, another of CU’s senior outfielders, hit Cameron’s only extra-base hit of the game with a double in the sixth inning. She went 1-2 in the game.
Sophomore pitcher Ashton McBride started the game and was saddled with the loss after giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in her 4 innings. She faced 18 batters, striking out and walking three apiece.
After getting their loss out of the way, the Aggies came out strong in the second game and built a 3-2 lead after just the first two innings. A solo shot by junior catcher Shareena Pulse got things going for CU as they looked on their way to their fourth victory of the season.
An inning later, SEU rebounded to tie the game at 3 after the third frame. The Hilltoppers built a 6-3 lead going into the final inning and seemed ready to sweep the Ags, but in the top of the seventh Cameron got their bats going again and scored 4 runs on 4 singles. McBride shut SEU down in the bottom of the seventh, sending them back to the dugout after three straight at-bats.
“I think we grew up a lot today, especially in the second game,” Coach Nye said. “We were able to come from behind after giving up our early lead. To me, that showed a lot of character. I think we can grow from that; it’s the learning how to win that’s important.”
McBride pitched the complete game victory to move to 3-2 on the season. She went all 7 innings giving up 5 runs on 8 hits. She faced a total of 38 batters, striking out 4 and walking 7.
Junior third-baseman Chelsey Jordan had a great game for the Aggies, as she went 1-3, including the game-winning hit, with 2 RBI. She also walked once.
“Ashton stepped up and pitched out of some jams for us. She came out with the lead in the seventh and sealed the win for us. That showed a lot of maturity on her part,” Coach Nye said. “Chelsey had the game winning hit and had a great second game.”
Sophomores Courtney Clifford, an outfielder, and Callie Schlatter, a catcher, both went 2-3 in the game with an RBI. Pulse was the only other Aggie to record multiple hits as she went 2-4 with an RBI in the game.
“I’m pleased but I still think we have a lot of room for improvement,” Coach Nye said. “We have had a lot of positive things happen so far, so we will try to build on those things and get stronger.”
This week the Aggie softballers head back out on the road to take part in the Abilene Christian University Invitational tournament, in Abilene, Texas. The team will play a number of games this Friday and Saturday. Their first home contest does not come until they host Texas A&M-Kingsville on February 18.
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