LAWTON – The Cameron University baseball team was back on the field today to finish its series against the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith. After taking the first two games of the series yesterday, the Aggies were unable to clench the sweep today, falling 9-4.

Cameron baseball coach Todd Holland was impressed with the inspiration UFAS was able to find after facing back-to-back defeats yesterday, but acknowledged that his team has to improve its ability to deal with difficult circumstances.

“They [UFAS] played well today. They chipped away and did a good job of getting motivated,” he said. “We just didn’t respond well. We went flat and didn’t fight back like I thought we would. We have to learn to respond better in pressure situations.”

The Lions produced the first run of the game in the second inning when first baseman Gordon Miller homered over the right field fence. 

CU responded in the bottom of the same inning by posting three runs on three hits. Outfielder Taylor Lyons was responsible for the first RBI of the inning. The Utah native hit a SAC fly to left field, which brought in Benshell Garcia. On the very next at bat Josh Dawson doubled to right field, allowing Nick Smith and Kevin Lum to score.

Both teams added another run to their total in the third, and each team recorded a single error in the inning.

UFAS scored again in the fourth. Outfielder Jordan May started things off by hitting a single up the middle. He then proceeded to steal second and advance to third on a balk. May came across home plate on a single from his teammate Austin Rawls.

The Lions tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth. Designated hitter Ben Smith doubled to left center, brining in a run. Steven Ross then hit a two run homer, resulting in UFAS going up 6-4 over CU.

While the Aggies would fail to add any more runs for the remainder of the game, the Lions picked up two more in the seventh and another in the eighth. 

Overall, UFAS had 11 hits to CU’s eight and one error compared to the Black and Gold’s four. Right-handed pitcher Zack Garling secured the win for the Lions. He went seven of the nine innings and recorded five strikeouts.

On the whole, Holland admitted his men have room for improvement.

“We could have easily won that game. We looked good at the beginning, but just kind of fell off. Yesterday, we got hits when we needed them. Today, though, we let them take over,” Holland said. “All our guys try hard and work their tails off, but we just have to get better at performing at a high level day-in and day-out, and that’s hard.”

The Aggies will hit the road next weekend to participate in the Abilene Christian Tournament. CU’s first game will be against Tarleton State at 1:05 p.m.