Southwestern Oklahoma, Incarnate Word and Cameron each picked up wins Sunday at the Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship at Crutcher Scott Field in Abilene, Texas.
The tournament continues Monday with Incarnate Word facing Cameron at 11 a.m. and Southwestern Oklahoma playing Southeastern Oklahoma at 3 p.m. in a first-round rematch. The 7 p.m. contest will match the SWOSU-SE winner and UIW-CU loser.
Cameron 9, Southeastern Oklahoma 4
Cameron got another gutsy pitching performance this time from James Rhodes as they were out-hit by Southeastern Oklahoma, but pulled out a 9-4 win over the Savage Storm on Sunday evening at Crutcher Scott Field in Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship action.
Rhodes followed up Ricky Cramer's outing last night with a complete game win as he scattered 10 hits only allowing four runs. He walked six and also struck out six but was able to get important outs to leave 11 Savage Storm runners on base.
The Aggies were able to thwart a SE comeback in the sixth when Riley Keith drilled a one-out double to left and moved to third after a pair of Rhodes' walks. However a strikeout and a weak groundball would end the inning and leave the bases loaded preserving at that time an 8-3 lead.
CU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead scoring two runs in the first and two more in the second aided by three hits, an error and four free passes (2 walks and 2 hit batsmen.) It was the bottom of the fifth when the Aggies broke the game open scoring four runs with only one hit and no errors; however SE pitchers had two walks and three more hit batters to push CU base runners around.
A sacrifice fly from Joe Halley in the bottom of the sixth would add an insurance run for the Aggies, but Rhodes and the CU defense would close the door on the Savage Storm.
Zach Ragsdale was 3-for-5 for SE with an RBI, but the Savage Storm’s inability to score runners in scoring position would cost them. Riley Keith hit his fourth home run of the season and finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Cameron improved to 32-14 on the year and plays Incarnate Word at 11 a.m. for a berth in Tuesday's Championship game while the loser will play the winner of Southeastern Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Southeastern Oklahoma fell to 30-17 and will play at 3 p.m. in a first-round rematch with Southwestern Oklahoma in an elimination game.
Incarnate Word 12, Tarleton State 2
Mike De La Rosa hit two home runs and drove in six runs Sunday afternoon as Incarnate Word knocked off Tarleton State, 12-2, at Crutcher Scott Field, eliminating the Texans from the Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship.
The win pushes the top-seeded Cardinals to 35-14 on the season, while the Texans finish the regular season at 35-13. Tarleton will now wait until next Sunday's announcement of the field in this year's NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament to find out if their season will continue.
Incarnate Word will play at 11 a.m. Monday against the winner of Sunday night's game between Southeastern Oklahoma and Cameron.
De La Rosa hit a solo home run in the second inning to make it 1-0, and then hit a three-run home run in the Cardinals' five-run sixth inning that blew the game open.
Incarnate Word starting pitcher Jorge Guarneros scattered five hits and one walk over seven strong innings to pick up the win and improve to 10-1 on the season.
Mark Jeffery and Tim Rainey each had two hits for the Texans, who were 0-2 in this year's tournament.
Southwestern Oklahoma 7, Texas A&M-Kingsville 1
Adrian Dominguez helped Southwestern Oklahoma stave off elimination Sunday morning with an outstanding effort on the mound as the Bulldogs were 7-1 winners over Texas A&M-Kingsville at the Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship at Crutcher Scott Field.
Dominguez continued the trend of solid starting pitching at the 2011 championship going seven strong innings only allowing five hits and one unearned run. He struck out four and more impressively walked none in the win.
The Bulldogs left 10 runners on base, but with 13 hits were able to provide the knock-out punch early as a five-run third inning provided SWOSU and Dominguez all the support they needed. The Bulldogs left the bases loaded in the second inning, but bounced back with smart base running and back-to-back bunt singles to break the game open.
James Cloud laid down the first bunt just past the Javelina's Dallas Ponder while third baseman Julian Duran was playing at the bag. Cloud finished the day 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Kingsville struggled to get any momentum offensively as they only managed five hits and left four runners on base as well; however two timely double plays by the Bulldogs erased Javelina threats ending both innings.
Kingsville ends their season at .500 (24-24) as they were eliminated for the second straight season in their second game.
SWOSU improved to 33-17 on the year and will await the outcome of the next two games Sunday to determine their opponent, although regardless of foe they will play Monday at 3 p.m.