LAWTON – The Cameron University baseball team was back in action today, continuing play against Oklahoma Panhandle State. The teams had to battle cold and windy conditions, but the Black and Gold managed to come out on top.
Cameron baseball coach Todd Holland said he was happy to see his team walk away with a pair of wins today, especially given the rough weather conditions.
“We did a really good job today. We came out down 4-1 in the first game, but we battled back and won. I’m really proud of the team,” Holland said. “It was windy and cold, but the guys figured it out. We made adjustments at the plate and did what we needed to do.”
The teams picked up where they left off yesterday, 3-0 in OPSU’s favor at the top of the fourth inning. OPSU immediately added another run to its score to go up 4-0. Blake Hadegree earned his way on base with a single to right field. He worked his way around the bases and then eventually crossed home plate when his teammate Art Knapp hit a sacrifice fly to the right fielder.
CU grinded its way through the bottom of the fourth to get its first run of the contest. With only one out on the scoreboard, Thomas Galvin reached first base on a walk and then found his way to third when second baseman Josh Dawson doubled to right field. Benshell Garcia then grounded out to the third baseman, allowing Galvin to score.
The Aggies kept up the momentum in the fifth inning, earning two runs on two hits and had help from the OPSU men who had two fielding errors. The real excitement came in the bottom of the seventh. With OPSU up 4-3, the Black and Gold managed to load the bases with only one out. The tying run came from Colton Davis who scored on an error by the catcher when Galvin reached on a fielder’s choice. Dawson, the next man at bat, was then hit by the second pitch he saw, allowing outfielder Taylor Lyons to walk across the plate and clench the second win of the series for the Aggies.
The CU bats stayed hot in the second game of the afternoon. The squad brought in three runs on four hits in the first inning. The second inning told a similar story for the Aggies who scored an impressive six runs in the second inning, bringing the score to an imposing 9-0.
OPSU was unable to score until the top of the fifth when the team picked up two runs. CU outfielder Brad Blumer responded to the regional rival’s attempted comeback with a homerun over the right field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Holland was more than pleased with Blumer’s batting performance this afternoon.
“Brad had an unbelievable day. He got a good ball on that homerun and just swung away,” he said.
OPSU earned two more runs in the seventh, but Cameron would go on to grasp the 10-4 win.
The teams began to play the fourth and final game of the series; however, with CU up 5-3 in the top of the fourth, the game was called due to darkness. The match-up is scheduled to be completed sometime in April.
The baseball men now hold a 5-0 overall record and their next contest will come at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7 when they face Southwestern Oklahoma State.
