LAWTON, Okla. – The Cameron Aggies (15-15-1, 4-3 LSC North) softball team defeated East Central (16-7, 2-2 LSC North) at home today behind tough at-bats and an umpire’s call for the game’s final run.

With the game tied 7-all in the bottom of the seventh and Amanda Karth at the plate, ECU’s Randee Crockett commited a pair of illegal pitches and a wild pitch to bring Leslie Martini in from third for the game’s winning run.

Karth battled Crockett in a massive 15-pitch at-bat earlier in the game that resulted in a three-run home run for the sophomore from Choctaw, Okla., to give the Aggies the then 7-5 lead in the fifth inning.

She drew the count to 2-2 before ECU Head Coach Destini Anderson elected to have her pitcher intentionally walk Karth with two outs. Crockett threw an illegal pitch to move Martini over the second then a wild pitch to put her at third.

After throwing the first of her two necessary pitches to move Karth to first, she committed her second illegal pitch of the at-bat which moved Martini across the plate for the 8-7 victory.

It was the fifth illegal pitch of the afternoon for the Tigers and the most costly.

“It’s unfortunate (to win that way) because it ended on an umpire’s call,” said Head Coach Beth Watson. “But I do believe we would have won it on a base hit too. It’s out of our hands though. We can’t control what the umpires do or say or call.”

“I’m very proud at the way we came back and the way our offense performed.”

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning but found themselves in a 4-1 hole after CU warmed up their bats.

Cheryl Raesz knocked in a pair of runs in the second and Drew Wright extended the lead with a towering two-run bomb to left center in the third.

The Tigers made up some ground and tied the ball game in the fourth with a three-run homer of their own and built that lead with another run in the fifth.

Trailing 5-3, Karth’s long at-bat, which featured 15 pitches and seven foul balls before she finally connected, gave the Aggies a 7-5 lead.

“I told her, in my 23 years of coaching, that was probably one of the top two at-bats I’ve ever witnessed,” said Watson.

“That at-bat was just like the team today. They kept fighting and didn’t give up. They are just a scrappy, win-at-all-cost fighters.”

The Tigers were able to tie it up in the top of the seventh on a two-run single from Casi Nordie.

The two teams will square off tomorrow in a doubleheader beginning at 1 P.M. at Cameron Field.