March 30, 2008

Aggies go 4-3 at LSC Crossover

DURANT, Oklahoma (March 30) – Once again playing a bunch of games in a short period of time away from the friendly confines of Cameron Field, the Aggie softball team (25-21, 3-5 LSC North) competed in the annual Lone Star Conference Crossover tournament this weekend. In three days the Aggies took on each of the seven LSC South Division teams and returned home to Lawton with a 4-3 record. The Aggies got some great pitching and some very timely hits, and now have a mere 16 games left in the 2008 season.

“We won four out of seven this weekend against some good, good competition which pleases me,” Head Coach Richie Nye said. “We had some good pitching and some good defense, and some very, very timely hitting.”

Friday had the Aggies matched up in three games, first of which was against the Abilene Christian Wildcats. CU and ACU have now battled seven times already this season with the Wildcats holding a 2-5 advantage. Friday turned the tides a bit after the Aggies won the game 6-5. The Aggies started with the early lead, but had to come from behind with their last at-bats in the top of the seventh to win the game. Cameron recorded 9 hits and 2 errors in the game.

After defeating ACU for their ninth win in a row, the Aggies immediately changed fields to battle the Javelinas of Texas A&M-Kingsville. The game between CU and TAMUK seemed to be a pitcher’s duel and was held scoreless through the first four innings. In the top of the fifth inning the Aggies decided to mix things up a bit with an impressive 8 runs. After the Javelinas were shut down in the bottom of the fifth, the game was called because of a run-rule and Cameron won the game 8-0 for their tenth consecutive victory.

“I put a lot of pressure on our pitchers to do better over the last few weeks and they have stepped up and responded nicely.”

Unfortunately the streak did not continue as Cameron fell to the Texas Woman’s Pioneers in their third game of the day, losing by the score 5-2. TWU started out the game with a 2-0 lead after the first inning, and improved to a 3-0 lead after the third which proved to be all they would need. The Aggies made it interesting with a two-run fourth inning, but did not have enough and lost their first game in a long time.

In Saturday’s action, the Aggies first matched up with a surprising West Texas A&M squad. WTAMU got on the board early and never looked back. Cameron was down 3-0 early, and down 4-1 halfway through the game. The Aggies ended up losing 7-2 but recorded 7 hits in the game and committed only 1 error.

The Aggies lost their third straight game Saturday evening after winning ten straight going into Friday night. The Aggies faced off against a very tough Angelo State Rambelle team and nearly had a win. Cameron was up 8-2 after the first three innings thanks to a seven-run bottom of the third. ASU put up 12 runs in the next three innings, shocking CU into a 14-8 defeat.

This afternoon Cameron seemed intent on getting back on the winning track. The team opened up with an Eastern New Mexico Zia squad and seemed to take out all of their frustration. The Aggies scored runs in four of the seven innings and built a 5-0 lead after the very first inning. Cameron went onto win the ballgame 10-1 behind an outstanding 16 hits and an even more impressive 0 errors.

Now sitting at 3-3 for the tournament, Cameron matched up with the Tarleton State TexAnns earlier this evening wanting to return home with a winning record for the tournament. The Aggies once again got on the board early but looked in danger of losing their “rubber game” as they found themselves down 4-2 heading into the seventh and final inning.

Junior C/OF Shareena Pulse continued to show why she is extremely clutch and the reigning LSC North Hitter of the Week with a three-run homerun in the top of the seventh to give Cameron the 5-4 victory and a record of 4-3 at the Crossover tournament.

“I’m pleased with our effort,” Coach Nye said. “We knew we were going to have a tough time against some tough teams but overall we handled the competition very well. You never know what you’re going to see going into these tournaments, and overall winning four of seven games is pretty good.”

The Aggies travel the short distance south to battle the Midwestern State Mustangs this Wednesday, April 2, in a double-header beginning at 2:00pm. CU and MSU conclude their home-and-home series next Saturday at Cameron Field in a double-header starting at 1:00pm. Next Saturday’s games will only be Cameron’s ninth and tenth home games of the season. CU has already played 46 games in 2008.

“It’s tough to be on the road so much; we would obviously love to have more home games,” Coach Nye said. “Half of our remaining games this season are at home so that will be good. Hopefully that will give us some momentum heading into the postseason.”

Aggie fans, remember that if you can’t make it out to Cameron Field to support the Aggie softball team, you can now watch the game live on the Aggie Video Network and follow along with the live updating statistics all available free of charge on the Cameron Athletics website: goaggies.cameron.edu.

“We have played a lot of non-conference games and it will be nice to get back into North Division play,” Coach Nye said. “Hopefully we can get back to another winning streak, and maybe these last couple of wins started that.”