LAWTON, Okla. (March 24, 2012) — Now that the games are over, the Cameron Baseball Team can breathe a little easier. The Aggies swept its doubleheader Saturday, picking up a pair of walk-off wins over Eastern New Mexico, 3-2 and 5-4. Each game was a scheduled seven inning game.
“It was good to see us battle back and win games,” said Head Coach Todd Holland. “I guess a wins a win, but there are better ways to win. You’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities throughout the game. I hope this sparks us; we’re really passive at the plate. We need a better approach.”
Clay Vanderlaan took the mound for the Aggies (14-14, 2-4) in game one and threw a gem. Vanderlaan threw into the sixth inning, allowing two runs on seven scattered hits. But despite his efforts, it was Aaron Kleekamp that was the beneficiary of the walk-off, picking up the victory.
Taylor Lyons got the action going for the Aggies, blasting a lead-off double to begin the game. Josh Dawson stepped up next and kept it going with a single. Lyons would come in to score on a double-play groundout by Brad Blumer.
Eastern New Mexico (9-14, 0-6) responded with a run in the second and briefly took the lead 2-1 with a run in the sixth inning. But the Aggies found late inning magic, as Tyler Cox, who lead off the 7th inning with a walk, came around to score on an error by the ENMU second baseman to tie the game and force an extra frame.
Kleekamp got through the top of the inning unscathed, setting up an opportunity for the Aggie offense. Blumer led off the home half with a single and advanced on an error by the Greyhound third baseman. Cox, who scored the game tying run in the 7th inning, came up with the game winning run in scoring position. Cameron’s catcher kept it to the basics – bat on ball – and shot the pitch to second. ENMU couldn’t handle the play, allowing Blumer to score the game winning run on an error.
The Aggies got off to a better start in game two, scoring three runs in the first inning as Lyons, Blumer and Andy Garcia came around to score.
Eastern New Mexico score runs in the second and third of CU starter Mike Carlson to make the score 3-2, Cameron, going into the fourth. After scoring two runs in the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead, the table was again set for a dramatic CU comeback.
Kevin Lum led off the action in the bottom of the seventh with a one-out single to get the momentum going. After a pop fly by Lyons, Dawson came up and delivered an RBI double off the wall in right center to tie the game at four. Kaleb Brawner came in to pinch-hit for Blumer and was walked. Colton Davis, who came in for Andy Garcia in the sixth inning, followed Brawner by placing a perfect grounder to second base; handcuffing ENMU and allowing the bases to become loaded. Kevin Waukau stepped up next with two outs and the bases loaded and delivered. Waukau hit a shot through the right side to pick up the walk-off single.
Despite the wins, Holland said he wants to see more, he expects more from his players. While the baseball goods took care of CU today, they won’t always be so kind.
“They (we) had a little spark today … but there were some balls we should have caught,” he said. “Vanderlaan did real good. Carlson did good as well. He got hit around but minimized the damage. You always want a chance late in the game, and we got that from our pitching. You just hope we’d score four or five an inning to break a game open."
On the victories: “The baseball always finds the person who doesn’t want it. Baseball has a weird way of handling things.”
The teams will conclude their series with a doubleheader Sunday. The teams will play a seven inning game at 1 p.m., followed by a nine inning game.
For more information on the Cameron baseball team, visit www.cameronaggies.com.
