CHICKASHA, Okla. — The Aggies (17-14; 8-6) were edged out by the No. 12 University of Science and Arts Oklahoma Drovers (27-6; 10-3) in Chickasha on Friday (Mar. 29) in two close contests. The team took a heartbreaking loss after seven-inning game turned into a three-hour, ten-inning battle that ended with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, 3-2, and were unable to close the gap in Game 2 even after a sixth-inning rally, taking another setback to the Drovers, 5-3.

The Aggies took the lead over the twelfth-ranked team in the nation early in Game 1, as outfielder Jaylon Burnett powered a home run over left field in the top of the second and an RBI from Jared Mayeda scored JJ Vaught in the third as the Aggies gained a 2-0 lead. Joseph Goetze kept the No. 1 hitting team in the SAC to just two hits and no runs through the fourth, until an error and a single each put a run on the board for the Drovers, tying it up at 2-2. In the bottom of the seventh, Goetze sent one Drover back with a fly-out to center and another back himself on a swinging strike-out for two outs before Charlie Marini came to the mound for the last out of the inning, forcing the eighth. Goetze would exit the game allowing four hits, two runs and issuing six strike outs.

A K for Marini, a diving catch by Payton Rhodes and a third out from Vaught kept the Aggies alive and forced a ninth inning, and a subsequent three up-three down from both teams sent the game into the tenth. The battle finally came to an end on a bases-loaded hit- by-pitch from Marini to give the Drovers the victory, 3-2.

With Yesiel Valdez on the mound for Game 2, both teams remained scoreless through the first, but USAO plated a run in the bottom of the second. The Aggies answered back in the top of the third as Luis Dermas came home on an RBI single from Louis Rodriguez but the Drovers tacked on another two runs in the bottom of the frame to take the score 3-1. The Drovers advanced their lead 5-1 in the fifth off two hits, but the Aggies battled back in the top of the sixth, responding with runs of their own to trail by only two as a double from Dermas and a single from pinch hitter Claytin Beaver took the score 5-3. Jeremy Norris came in to close out the sixth but the Aggies fell short of the comeback in the seventh, taking the loss, 5-3. Valdez allowed all five runs off eight hits and struck out two in his five innings pitched.

The Aggies continue their series against the Drovers with Game 3 tomorrow, (Mar. 30) at 1 p.m. in Chickasha. Live stats and streaming of the game will be available on opsuaggies.com, links will be posted once they become available. Follow us on Twitter @OPSUAthletics and Facebook @OpsuAggieAthletics for live game updates.