Bright, Reed pitch Aggies to sweep of Bulldogs

WEATHERFORD – Jocelyn Bright and Stormee Reed pitched strong seven-inning complete games to spark Cameron to a doubleheader sweep of Southwestern Oklahoma State University Tuesday to give the Aggies a boost of confidence heading into an important Lone Star Conference series starting Friday against Angelo State University.

Bright allowed four hits to lead the Aggies to a 4-0 victory in the opener and Reed allowed five hits and one run as the Aggies took a 3-1 decision in the second game of the non-conference twinbill. Bright, a senior from Burkburnett, Texas, walked just one and fanned six to run her record to 8-3. Reed, a sophomore from Shawnee, allowed five hits, walked two and fanned five to push her record to 9-6.

Coach Emma Johansen will take her club on the long drive to San Angelo, Texas, for a three-game Lone Star Conference series against the Rambelles who are tied for third with Oklahoma Christian in the LSC standings with a 20-10 conference mark. West Texas leads the LSC with a 25-2 league mark, which has the Buffs ahead of UT-Tyler which is 22-5. Lubbock Christian and St. Mary’s are tied for fifth at 17-10 and the Aggies are alone in seventh at 18-12 in the conference and 22-14 overall. The series includes a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.

The Aggies produced all the runs Bright needed with a four-run second. Madysen Boutwell started the inning with a single to left and Rylee Ross followed with a single before the Bulldogs got a fly ball out and a strikeout for a pair of quick outs.

But CU’s Presleigh Payne wasn’t about to let the scoring opportunity go by the wayside as she took a 1-0 pitch and drove it into the gap in right-center to bring Boutwell and Ross home. Savannah Pemberton walked on four straight pitches before Taylor Rowley hit a 1-2 pitch to the gap in right-center for a triple that plated two more runs.

The Bulldogs got a ground ball out to end the inning but Bright had all the runs she needed to get the pitching win. Bright stranded five Bulldogs but none of those reached third base as she was in command and her defense was flawless in support. Cameron wound up with seven hits in Game 1 including two from Boutwell.

The Aggies took Game 2 by scoring single runs in the first, second and fourth and Reed made that lead stand, giving up the lone run of the day for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Cameron’s first run came after Rowley reached on an error and took second on a ground ball out. Kaiden Boren followed with a double down the line in right but Rowley was only able to move to third after holding up to make sure the ball was not going to be caught. The Bulldogs got a strikeout but Ross came through with a clutch two-out single to get Rowley home.

Ashlynn Bruce got the second-inning rally going, working the count full before earning a one-out walk. Makena Riggs followed with a single but the Bulldogs got the second out on a fly ball and seemed on the verge of avoiding further damage. But CU’s Alyssa Deanda singled in the hole and when the Bulldogs tried to catch Bruce moving to third, a bad throw allowed her to score the unearned run.

The fourth started with a pair of quick Aggie outs but Rowley singled to left. Deanda followed with another two-out single and after a throwing error both the CU players were in scoring position. Another Southwestern mistake, this time a wild pitch, allowed Rowley to score the final CU run.

Reed had a good effort in the circle, not allowing a runner in the first and allowing a single in the second and a walk in the third but neither runner reached second. She gave up back-to-back singles to start the fourth but shortstop Rowley started a double play that doused that rally. Reed got three quick outs in the fifth but she gave up a pair of extra-base hits as the Bulldogs finally scored after going 12 innings without a run in the doubleheader.

The Aggies committed an error in the bottom of the seventh but that was sandwiched by a pair of Reed strikeouts. She gave up a walk but came back to get the final out on a fly ball to complete the sweep.