EDMOND, Okla. (March 5, 2012) — A day after splitting with Truman State, Cameron’s softball team lost a pair of games to Central Oklahoma today, 14-6 and 4-3.
 
The Bronchos (15-3) scored half of their runs in game one on the long ball, hitting three homeruns off Cameron’s (9-13) Cheyenne Brown (4-6) for seven runs. It used a five-run inning in the home half to pull ahead 14-6, putting the run rule into effect.
 
“It was pretty well back and forth,” said Head Coach Beth Watson. “It was a lot like Truman State. They would score and we would come back. We spotted them a couple runs early, after committing an error in the first. You know, we got some key hits, just not enough to finish the game. It was really windy too, it was a factor for both teams.”
 
The Aggies fought hard the entire game, pulling to within three, 9-6, heading into the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-run homerun by Leah Trousdale. The HR was her second of the season.
 
Kelsy Hebert also went deep in the game, hitting her first homerun of the season in the second inning, picking up her first two RBI of the season.
 
Micah Foutch provided the rest of the offense for CU, picking up RBIs in the third and fifth innings to move her season total to four.
 
Hebert (2-3) took the circle for game two and posted her strongest outing of the season, taking the loss in six strong innings. She allowed only four runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout.
 
“She (Hebert) really did,” Watson said. “We talked before the game about keeping the ball down and getting ground balls to let the defense work. Our defense as a whole was better in the second game. We had a chance in last two innings to tie or go ahead. We pushed one run across but left too many runners stranded.”
 
“If there is such thing as a moral victory, we played much better than we have in the last three games. Kelsy (Hebert) doing what she did in the second game to hold that team to four runs was a pretty big outing for us. It’s a bright spot. She brings something totally different to the mound. It’s going to be very helpful for us in conference play.”
 
UCO took the lead early, scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning to make it 1-0.

Claren Hurlbut helped get Cameron on the board in the third inning, with a single to third base. She would go on to steal second and advance to third on a ground out by Misty Dooley, before coming in to score on a double by Drew Wright to tie the game at one.
 
But the Bronchos would respond in the home half on a two-run homerun to take the lead at 3-1.
 
A solo homerun would push UCO’s run total to four, at 4-1, but it would be its final run of the game.
 
Hurlbut again set the table in the fifth inning with a single, as CU began to chip away at the deficit. After securing her second stolen base of the game, she was advanced to third on a single by Dooley. Wright picked her another RBI on a sacrifice bunt as Hurlbut came in to score.
 
Heading into the final inning, the Black and Gold trailed 4-2, but never quit fighting. Hurlbut was walked to lead off the inning, and then stole her third base of the game to put the pressure on the Bronchos. Following a strikeout by Dooley, Wright came to the plate and hit a single to left field for her third RBI of the game and team-leading 16th of the season. UCO buckled down for the final two batters, striking out Leslie Martini and enticing a strikeout by Micah Foutch to seal the 4-3 victory.
 
Cameron will now set its sights to a three game home series versus Incarnate Word in conference play. The teams are scheduled to play two on Friday, beginning at 2 p.m., and one Saturday at 1 p.m.

“They have preseason pitcher of the year, so I’m sure she’s going to be a challenge,” Watson said. “They are a good hitting team and do a lot of things well. It will be tough for us but we are up to the challenge. We are playing better now, heading into the weekend.”