Box Score (Game 2)
LAWTON, Okla. – The Cameron Aggies (19-11, 12-8 LSC) split the opening pair of games with the Javelinas of Texas A&M-Kingsville (16-14, 13-10 LSC) in Lone Star Conference action on Friday at McCord Field.
The Aggies took the opening game 3-2 but fell in the nightcap 11-6 as the teams combined for six errors.
Game one:
The Javelinas struck first in the initial frame to take a 1-0 lead as Ben Villafuerta walked and then advanced on a wild pitch. He came in off a pair of sacrifice hits from Ryan Cook and then Jerry Rodriguez.
Kingsville’s starter Jeremy Flores pitched three innings of hitless baseball before Josh Dawson broke the string in the fourth with a single through the left side.
In the fifth, the Hoggies pulled off a successful hit-and-run with Julian Duran to put A.J. Hecker on third. Duran stole second but Cramer induced a pair of groundouts to get out of the inning unscathed.
Dawson came up again in a big way with a two-run roundtripper to right field to give the Aggies the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
Kenny Held drew a 3-1 walk and advanced to third on a Nate Valdez single to right field. Joe Halley brought Held in on a sharply hit two-bagger through the right side to put the Aggies up 3-1. Kingsville skipper Jason Gonzales pulled his starter in favor of sophomore Jonathon Escobar to get out of the inning.
Aggie Head Coach Todd Holland utilized James Rhodes in the seventh in an attempt to close the game out.
Twice Rhodes needed just one strike to end the game, but Kingville’s Ryan Cook extended the game with a two-out single to left center to bring in Adrian Williams who reached earlier on an error.
Rhodes was able to punch out his third batter of the inning to get his fourth save and the 3-2 victory for the Black and Gold.
Ricky Cramer (4-2) was tagged with the victory after tossing six complete innings. He scattered four hits and handed out four free passes but managed to strike out six batters en route to the victory.
Chase Larsson’s NCAA Division II record streak of consecutive games with a home run was halted as the reigning NCBWA National Hitter of the Week was hitless in three at-bats. His streak ends at nine games.
Game two:
The visitors struck first again in the top frame to take a 1-0 lead but a Nate Valdez single brought in Dawson to tie the game up.
A pair of fielding errors helped the Javelinas re-take the lead in the second as they plated two runs to go up 3-1. Again in the third, they built their lead to 6-1 including a two RBI double from Julian Duran.
The Aggies were able to get a run back as Held led off the inning with a triple and was plated two outs later by Halley who reached on an error by the second baseman.
Over three innings, the visitors built their lead to 10-2 but saw it sliced in a four-run sixth inning highlighted by a bases clearing three-run double from Larsson to make it 10-6.
Kingsville was able to add another run in the ninth and keep the Aggies at bay to take away the 11-6 victory in the second game.
Corey Davidson (4-3) picked up the loss after three innings of work. He allowed eight runs (five earned) and scattered eight hits while striking out one batter.
Clay Vanderlaan also appeared in relief for the Aggies, working the final six innings. He struck out nine batters and allowed three runs on seven hits.
The two teams square off tomorrow in the rubber game of the series with first pitch slated for 1 P.M. at McCord Field.
