CU splits with #17 UCO
April 15, 2008LAWTON, Oklahoma (April 15) – With less than two weeks remaining in the 2008 regular season, the Cameron Aggie softball team (32-24, 10-8 LSC North) hosted the nationally ranked #17 Central Oklahoma Bronchos (32-9, 14-4 LSC North) in the first half of this week’s series today at Cameron Field. Still needing a few more victories to lock up a postseason berth, CU and UCO split today’s double-header. CU won the first game 8-4, but UCO won the second game 12-1.“We played really well the first game. We had some huge offensive hits and some great defensive plays,” Head Coach Richie Nye said. “Their pitcher did a good job against us in the second game. We made some mistakes early and after they got us down they never looked back.”
With this afternoon’s split, the Lone Star Conference North Division race will look nearly the same. The Bronchos will remain in second place, while the Aggies will stay in third. At season’s end, the top four teams in each of the LSC’s two divisions move on to the postseason tournament. The Bronchos had a fourteen-game winning streak coming into today’s double-header.
“The first game was a huge win for us,” Coach Nye said. “We were hoping to keep rolling after the first game but obviously we didn’t. I think overall though we are playing pretty good ball. We are starting to make some huge defensive plays, which we didn’t make earlier in the season.”
In today’s opener the Aggies held a 2-1 lead after the very first inning thanks to a massive two-run homerun by junior shortstop Megan Young. Cameron continued to pile on the runs and was up 8-1 after four innings. UCO scored a few runs late in the game but it was not nearly enough.
Cameron scored 8 runs on 11 hits but committed 3 errors. Central Oklahoma meanwhile scored 4 runs on 5 hits and recorded only 1 error. Senior outfielder Sammi Adams also went yard in the game.
Sophomore pitcher Ashton McBride recorded the victory to move to 21-14 overall on the season. She went all 7.0 innings allowing 5 hits and 4 runs, although none of the runs were earned. She faced 29 batters and threw 1 strikeout and 2 walks.
“Ashton pitched wonderfully today,” Coach Nye said. “I think she did great. She is pitching a whole lot better and made some huge pitches today to get us out of some jams.”
In the nightcap the Bronchos came out looking for revenge and held the Aggies scoreless until the sixth inning. The game was called in a run-rule after the Bronchos put up 8 runs in the top of the sixth inning. The Aggies scored a run in the bottom of the inning, but it was not enough to prevent a run-rule.
The Aggies were held to just 1 run on 4 hits and again committed 3 errors. The Bronchos did not commit an error and scored 12 runs on 15 hits. Just three Aggie players finished with a hit in the game as sophomore catcher Callie Schlatter went 2-3 with a single and a double.
Junior pitcher Giselle Guzman recorded the loss this afternoon and is now 4-5 on the year. She went the first 5.1 innings and allowed 9 runs, only 5 earned, on 11 hits. She faced 29 batters and recorded 1 strikeout.
Cameron travels the short distance to Edmond, Oklahoma, this Saturday (April 19) to take on Central Oklahoma in the second half of their series. The double-header between the teams begins at 1:00pm on UCO’s campus.
“Overall we are hitting the ball a whole lot better,” Coach Nye said. “Our batting average has been climbing and I think we are heading in the right direction. One of our goals was to finish better than we started and we are doing that so far.”
The Aggies have just one more home date left on the 2008 regular season schedule. Cameron’s home finale is on Saturday, April 26, when the Aggies host the East Central Tigers in a double-header beginning at 1:00pm.
