The No. 7 Wildcats took a pair of nonconference games from Henderson
State and Texas College at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.,
Saturday, and then finished the weekend sweep with a big win over St.
Edward’s Tuesday.
The ‘Cats were originally scheduled to play a weekend series with Lone
Star Conference foe West Texas A&M in Canyon, but stormy conditions in
the Texas Panhandle canceled the series. The cancellations forced the
Wildcats to find replacement games.
“It allowed my guys to stay sharp and my top two pitchers to stay on
track,” said Head Coach Britt Bonneau.
The Wildcats defeated Henderson State 11-4 in the first game, although
they trailed HSU 4-2 before rallying for nine runs during the final
three innings. Second baseman Cameron Watten had four RBIs in the
game, including a base-clearing double in the seventh inning.
Starting pitcher Cameron Aspaas pitched five innings and the beginning
of the sixth, giving up four runs. Reliever Chay Lytle got the win for
the ‘Cats, pitching the sixth and seventh innings.
The Wildcats started their regular players in the first game but were
able to start some reserves against NAIA Texas College in the second.
“The second game we had two guys that hadn’t had a start get a chance
to have some at-bats,” Bonneau said. “That was a good thing for us
since it wasn’t a conference game.”
The Wildcats easily handled Texas College in the second game, winning
via the run rule, 11-1. Ryan Luckie hit a home run for the Wildcats to
bring their record to 12-2.
Tuesday afternoon, the Wildcats returned home from their seven-game
road trip and knocked off nonconference opponent St. Edwards
7-0 at Crutcher Scott Field.
The Wildcats will continue LSC play this weekend at Crutcher Scott
Field with a four-game series against East Central. The first pitch
for Game One is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. Friday.
“We’re not going to change much except we have a Tuesday game to
prepare us for the series,” Bonneau said. “They have a new coach over
there so there are some things we don’t know about them, but we’re
going to take the same approach we’ve taken all year.”
