March 25, 2008
Eight wins in a row for CU softball
LAWTON, Oklahoma (March 25) – Make it eight wins in a row for the Cameron Aggie softball team (20-18, 3-5 LSC-North), who today swept the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State (11-7, 0-0 MIAA) at Cameron Field. The Aggies have now won nine of their last ten games and appear headed for the Lone Star Conference postseason tournament. Today CU won the first game in a run-rule, 10-1, and the second game 9-8 in the bottom of the final inning.
“Good teams find ways to win, and today we showed we can be that team,” Head Coach Richie Nye said. “We are feeling pretty confident right now. The key is that we aren’t walking as many and we aren’t making as many errors. When we combine those two together with our hitting we have a chance to win. Our pitchers are doing much better.”
The Aggies did a great job in nearly every facet of the game this afternoon. Cameron only committed 2 errors on the day and recorded an impressive 24 hits. The team also was able to rely on steady pitching throughout the double-header.
In the afternoon’s opening game, Cameron got on the board early and put up a 5-0 lead after the first two innings. A grand-slam homerun by junior Jenna Boren broke the game wide open for CU, who went on to put up another five runs in the final three innings. The Bearcats put up a single run in the top of the sixth and final inning, but did not score enough to avoid a run-ruling. CU won the game 10-1 in only six innings.
Boren, who played at first base, finished with a phenomenal 6 RBI to lead both teams. She went 2-3 from the plate with her aforementioned homerun and a single. She was also walked once.
Sophomore pitcher Ashton McBride pitched a gem on the mound, going the distance for a complete game victory. She went all 6.0 innings and allowed only 1 run on a mere 4 hits. McBride faced a total of 22 batters and recorded 1 strikeout.
Cameron continued the offensive onslaught in the afternoon’s nightcap, but Northwest Missouri State did everything they could to counter CU’s runs. The Bearcats opened up a 6-0 lead after their at-bats in the second inning, but Cameron scored 7 runs over the next two innings to go up 7-6. NWMSU regained the lead with a two-spot in the fifth, and held the advantage until the seventh and final inning.
The Aggies were able to manufacture enough runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the game 9-8. With two runners in scoring position and two outs gone in the final frame, senior Whitney Richardson doubled to leftfield to tie the game at 8. On the next at-bat, sophomore Courtney Clifford singled to right field scoring the winning run and giving CU the victory.
“Offensively the team is showing a lot of character,” Coach Nye said. “It was good to see our team didn’t lie down and quit; they fought back. That is a credit to the girls and our good off-season training program.”
Junior infielder Chelsey Jordan had a big day at the plate going 2-4 with a game-high 4 RBI. She hit an amazing 2 homeruns in the game and also scored 2 runs.
Richardson had the most successful day at the plate after recording a hit in 3 of her 4 at-bats for a team-high .750 batting average. She led the game with 2 doubles and also recorded a single RBI.
McBride got her second win of the day to move to 14-11 on the season. She pitched the final 3.0 innings of the game and faced 15 batters. She allowed only 1 run on 6 hits and recorded 1 walk.
“Ashton is doing better,” Coach Nye said. “One walk in nine innings is big time. She is keeping the ball down and getting a lot of ground balls. The key to winning is pitching and defensive improvements. Today we let our defense play and made big plays behind our pitchers.”
The Cameron softball team takes part in the Lone Star Conference Crossover tournament in Durant, Oklahoma, this weekend. The Aggies will play 7 LSC South Division teams in 3 days. The softball action can be followed via the Lone Star Conference website (lonestarconference.org). The live action can also be accessed by clicking on the link on the softball page of the Cameron Athletics website (goaggies.cameron.edu).
“We’ve got a good win streak heading into the crossover tournament,” Coach Nye said. “That will be one huge test, and hopefully we keep on playing at this level.”
In other Cameron softball news, junior outfielder Shareena Pulse was named the Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week today after her impressive play last week. Pulse had an absolutely phenomenal week offensively as she averaged a homerun in every 3.83 at bats this week and averaged at least a homerun every game. Her 13 RBI were also very influential, as was her walk-off, game-winning homerun versus Northeastern State.
“Shareena really deserves the recognition,” Coach Nye said. “She hit really well and is a very good hitter. She sure put it together and seemed to win the games for us by herself.”