Drue Watkins
Sports Editor
From April 15-16, the Cameron University baseball team lost all four games in their series against the #8 West Texas A&M (WT) Buffaloes.
The losses place the Aggies at a 15-24 overall record and a 5-11 conference record. The team’s losing streak extends to five games in a row. After sweeping the Aggies, the Buffaloes sit at a 28-7 record and are undefeated in conference play.
Cameron head coach Brady Huston said the team has a ton of things to improve on.
“This season isn’t going the way we wanted it to go,” he said. “The team hasn’t looked the way it should be looking, and we have to work harder in practice to play better in games. Right now, this isn’t cutting it.”
The first game of the series quickly escalated into a shoot-out, as both offenses drove in a combined total of 15 runs.
Aggie senior pitcher Reid Garrett pitched all six innings for Cameron, giving up nine earned runs with four strikeouts. He suffered his third loss on the season.
Aggie sophomore infielder Luke Hughes led the team in hits, racking up two total and scoring an additional two runs. Senior catcher Cole Williams came right behind him with a single hit, two RBI’s and one run scored.
The first inning saw mostly defense; however, in the second inning, WT struck first, scoring four runs off a pair of homers.
In the top of the third inning, the Aggies answered by scoring three runs of their own following Williams’ sixth homerun of the season.
Despite the production from the Aggies’ offense, their defense couldn’t stop WT. The Buffaloes retaliated with six straight runs, taking a commanding 10-3 lead heading into the fifth inning.
Cameron managed to score two more runs in the game—one in the fifth inning and one in the sixth—but WT held on in the seventh inning to secure the victory, 10-5.
Huston said the lack of runs scored killed the team’s progress.
“We have to score more often,” he said. “We’re getting some hits, but our inability to capitalize on that is slowing us down. We have to keep up consistency and bounce back.”
The Buffaloes scored double-digit runs again in the second game of the series, with Cameron unable to keep pace.
Aggie sophomore pitcher Gaige Vines started the game, but soon became replaced after 2.1 innings by freshman Abraham Renteria. Renteria pitched the final 4.1 innings, giving up 11 runs on 14 hits with two K’s.
Williams led the way in scoring with one hit and two RBI’s.
After a strong two-run start by the Aggies in the first inning, they failed to score any more throughout the rest of the game. WT, however, rallied off twelve unanswered runs during all seven innings.
The most scoring occurred during the seventh inning, as the Buffaloes hammered out six straight runs, winning by run-rule, 12-2.
Huston said the pitching, too, needs more consistency.
“Not only were we not getting enough hits, but we were giving up too many,” he said. “Sometimes it’s good to slow things down and not get frustrated. It can be tough, though. We’ve got some young guys that will grow.”
The third game fared no better for the Aggies, as once again the Buffaloes outscored them through dominant offensive play.
Cameron, as a team, struck out nine times and totaled just six hits. The Aggies scored only two runs in the game, with one coming in the fourth inning and the other in the sixth.
Aggie senior Skyler Henderson pitched the entire game, giving up nine runs and two walks, while earning three strikeouts.
In game three, the Aggies once again fell 12-2.
Cameron scored the first run in the game during the first inning, but then failed to score anymore until the fifth. WT, on the other hand, consistently scored runs in each inning, except for in the first and the sixth.
The majority of their runs came in the seventh inning, when they racked up a total of seven.
Huston said letting the opposing team get those streaks hurts momentum.
“You can get bogged down with innings like those,” he said. “If you dig yourself into a hole like that, it’s hard to get out of it. We have to get better at rebounding with those.”
For Cameron, junior pitcher Andrew Garza struck out five batters while giving up 11 runs on 15 hits; he played for a total of 3.2 innings. Junior Sean Maher pitched the final 2.1 innings, striking out four batters and only giving up a single run.
From April 27-29, Cameron will host Tarleton State for a four game league series. The Friday and Saturday games will be the debut of the new lights at McCord Field.
Huston said the season isn’t over yet.
“We have time, but we have to start winning now,” he said. “Tarleton State is a good team, but we can beat them if we stick to what we know and play up to par. Mainly we have to score runs.”
