LAWTON – McCord Field was filled with a lot of emotions on Friday afternoon as the Aggie baseball team lost a heart-breaker of a slugfest against Texas A&M-Kingsville 18-16 in 10 innings.

Cameron began their three-game series against the Javelinas on Friday afternoon, a series that was originally scheduled to be the opener for the 2021 spring, but now it is serving as the final three-game set for the Black and Gold this spring.

Early in the contest, it looked like the visiting Javs had CU out-matched. They scored four runs in the top of the first frame. However, the resilient Aggies answered back with a single run on a Beau Williams single in the bottom of the frame and then two more on an Erik Ohman two-run blast in the second.

The one-run deficit did not last long, as TAMUK added three more runs in the third frame. A Ryan Carter solo shot got one of those back, but another three-spot in the fifth gave the Javelinas a 10-4 lead.

Once again, the Aggies answered the three-run top of the inning with a solo homer in the bottom, as Jayce Clem hit his team-leading 11th long-ball in the fifth to bring the deficit back to five.

In the sixth, Cameron put up their second crooked number of the game after the Javelinas put up a run in the top of the frame. Nate Vargo doubled to bring home Cooper Edwards and then came in to score on a Ohman single in the next at-bat.

The Javelinas put up their third three-run inning in their half of the seventh and looked to have the game in hand with a 14-7 advantage. However, the Aggie bats had other plans.

Cameron opened the bottom of the seventh with six straight hits resulting in three more runs to cut the lead to four. After the second pitching change of the frame, Vargo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home another run. TAMUK finally got the first out of the frame, which was followed by a bases loaded walk of Clem, cutting the lead to just two runs. After another pitching change, Williams came up for his second at-bat of the inning with the bases loaded and gave the Aggie faithful a show by driving a ball over the right-center field wall for a grand slam that gave Cameron a 16-14 lead.

After the big nine-run inning, CU went to Tyler Cornett out of the bullpen to try and get his second-straight six-out save. After hitting a batter to start the frame, Cornett got a pair of strikeouts for the first two outs. Another hit batter and an infield single loaded the bases and then a walk of Cameron Melcher brought home a TAMUK run to cut the CU lead to just one.

The Aggies went down one-two-three in the bottom of the eighth, leaving just a one-run cushion for Cornett in the ninth. The CU hurler got two quick groundouts to start the frame, but a two-out walk and a RBI double from Damien Rodriguez tied the game at 16.

Cameron had a prime opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, getting Clem and Williams on via walks to start the frame. Aldo Buendia got a swinging strikeout and then a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with two outs. Edwards walked to load the bases for Nik Sanchez, who hit a long fly ball to left to end the Aggie threat.

Buendia proved to be the hero for the Javelinas late, as he followed up his pitching performance in the ninth with a leadoff homer to start the 10th. TAMUK added another run on a Kohl Ullman double, giving his team a two-run lead. Buendia then retired the Aggies on three straight strikeouts in the bottom of the frame to earn the extra-inning win.

Cameron had a season-high 18 hits in the over 5-hour long contest. Williams had three hits and drove in five runs, four on the grand slam, while Ohman had a trio of hits as well with three RBI in the loss. The CU bats also struck out 18 times and drew six walks against the Javelinas staff.

The Aggies deployed four pitchers in the loss. They combined for 13 strikeouts, from Kalen Haynes in three innings of work. They also walked 15 batters, hit six, and stranded 17 Javelina runners on base in the marathon game.

With the loss, Cameron falls to 7-30 on the season and 7-24 in Lone Star Conference action. They will look to even up the series on Saturday, as the two teams meet again with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. CU will take the time to honor their senior class prior to first pitch.