Goodwell, Okla.—Aggie Baseball traveled to Winfield, Kan. over the weekend for their season opener against Southwestern College. The Aggies split the four-game series, taking home two wins, 6-2; 9-7.
Saturday's opening contest was a battle on the mound between the two teams with both going scoreless and Joey Goetze pitching a no-hitter through 5 innings. Southwestern College put a run on the board in the bottom of the sixth and would close out game one with a win, 0-1.
The Aggies were quick to respond and came out swinging in game two, adding a run on an RBI from
Jaylon Burnett early. Southwestern answered back in the bottom of the first with two runs, but the Aggies battled. A sac fly from
Jack Aydelotte started the comeback in the top of the sixth to tie the score 2-2. In the seventh,
Payton Rhodes earned first base on a single, followed by
Luis Rodriguez who reached on an error by the Mound Builders.
Jared Mayeda stepped up and double to left field, sending Rhodes across the plate and adding another run. An RBI from Aydelotte and another error by Southwestern plated two more runs for the Aggies, putting them in the lead 6-2, where they would stay to seal the win as
Charlie Marini kept Southwestern at bay from the mound.
Sunday's game saw the Aggies putting runs on the board early, as Rhodes, Mayeda, Aydelotte,
Aaron Moreno,
Chris Galvan, and
Jorge De la Cruz all crossed the plate in the top of the first, starting the Aggies off 6-0. Galvan and De la Cruz added another two runs in the top of the third, but Southwestern would answer back in the bottom of the inning, plating two runs and would add another five between the fourth and fifth innings, taking the score 8-7, still in favor of the Aggies. Another RBI from Aydelotte kept the Aggies ahead and they would take the win, 9-7.
Corey Ley took the mound for the Aggies in game four, giving up two runs on five innings pitched.
Tyler Bryant would enter in the sixth with bases loaded and allow three runs for Southwestern, taking the score 2-5.
Claytin Beaver earned his way to second on a double before a sac-fly from J.J. Vaught would send him in to score, and Burnett would cross the plate in the top of the fifth on an error by the Mound Builders, but the two runs were not enough to overcome the late lead taken by Southwestern and the Aggies would take the loss, 2-5.
Now 2-2 on the season, the Aggies will see their home opener on Feb. 5 against Friends University, with first pitch at 1 p.m. Live stats and streaming will be available on opsuaggies.com for those wanting to keep up at home.
