February 18, 2008
CU Baseball splits with TSU
LAWTON, Oklahoma (February 18) – With the weather finally deciding to cooperate, the Aggie baseball team (8-4, 2-2 LSC) today hosted the Texans of Tarleton State (7-4, 2-2 LSC) for a matinee double-header. The teams were supposed to begin a four-game series last Friday, but inclement weather pushed the opening double-header to Sunday in Stephenville, Texas, with the squads wrapping up the series today at McCord Field.
On Sunday the teams split with TSU winning game one 9-0 and CU taking the nightcap 11-3. In today’s match-up the teams squared of for a nine-inning game followed by a seven-inning game. The Aggies won the opener 14-13, and the Texans won the second game 10-7. The second game of today’s double-header was called due to a lack of sunlight.
“Our defense was not very good and it was not our best performance,” Head Coach Todd Holland said. “In the first game we let them back into it with four errors and five unearned runs. Our pitching staff didn’t do its best job either but they did give us a chance to win both today.”
In the first game of today’s double-dip, the Texans got on the board early thanks to a two-run homerun in the top of the first inning. The Aggies responded with a three-run bottom of the first inning, and a two-run bottom of the third inning to go up 5-2. CU continued their onslaught with a five-run fifth inning that put them ahead 10-5.
Cameron appeared to grow complacent as they let the Texans storm right back and tie the game at 13-13 via an eight-run eighth inning. CU was shut out in the bottom of the frame and a quick, scoreless top of the ninth set the stage for the play of the day.
CU’s first batter in the bottom of the ninth was junior rightfielder Chris Caves who already leads the team in nearly every offensive category. After just a few pitches, Caves launched one over the leftfield fence to give Cameron the victory by virtue of a walk-off homerun. The HR was Caves’ fifth of the season.
Caves finished the game going 1-4 from the plate with an RBI thanks to his huge ninth inning. He also stole a base and was hit by a pitch in the game.
Senior shortstop Charlie Calamia led the team in the first game with a team-high 4 RBI. He went 2-6 from the plate with a homerun.
Junior pitcher Jason Smith recorded the victory in the game after pitching just the final 1.2 innings. He gave up just 1 run on 2 hits after facing 7 batters. He also recorded a single strikeout and no walks.
“In the first eight games of the season our defense has done wonderfully,” Coach Holland said. “Then all of the sudden our defense goes south and the runs go up. Overall I think we did alright though.”
In the second game the Texans came out determined to split with the Aggies. TSU put up runs in each of the first three innings to go up 7-4. Cameron made it interesting with a two-run fourth inning, but Tarleton State put the game away with a three-run fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth and final inning, the Aggies knocked in a run thanks to a solo homerun by Blake Watson, and then had bases loaded with two outs when Chris Caves stepped up to the plate. Unfortunately lightning did not strike twice as Caves popped up to end the game.
Watson, a sophomore third-baseman, went a perfect 3-3 from the plate with a team-high 2 RBI. He also hit a double in the game to go along with his homerun.
Junior second-baseman Nate Arevalo also recorded a team-high 2 RBI in the game after going 2-3 from the plate. He was also walked once.
Senior pitcher Bevan Anderson was saddled with the loss after pitching 3 full innings. He gave up 7 runs on 12 hits and faced 21 batters. He did not record a single walk and struck out 5 Texan batters.
“I thought we could have played better,” Coach Holland said. “I think we are a better team than how we played this weekend, as far as our production goes. We are still a bit banged up but our guys have still been playing pretty well.”
The Aggies travel to San Angelo, Texas, this weekend for a three-day series with the Angelo State University Rams. The teams kick off the four-game series with a single game this Friday afternoon, beginning at 3:00pm. Cameron does not host another home game for nearly two weeks.