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Campbell Splits Baseball Doubleheader With Number-15 Florida Atlantic

Saturday, April 12, 2003
Contact: Chris Kilcoyne

Campbell Splits Baseball Doubleheader With Number-15 Florida Atlantic

 BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Josh Blades allowed just three earned runs in a complete-game effort and Campbell defeated number-15 Florida Atlantic 6-4 in the opener of an Atlantic Sun baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Taylor Field. In the nightcap, FAU rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to claim a 9-6 victory and win the series, 2-1.
 In the opener, FAU scored single runs in the third and fourth innings on RBI singles from Jeff Fiorentino and Evan Brannon.
FAU starter Chris Saxton (2-2) carried a perfect game into the fifth before Jason Brown walked to lead off the inning. With two out, Chris Wiley broke up the no-hit bid after 4 2/3 innings with a bloop single into shallow right field. Sal Deanda then followed with a three-run homer, his first round-tripper of the year, to put the Camels in front 3-2.
The Owls answered, however, with two runs in the sixth on Mike Cox's solo shot and Brannon's steal of home plate when he scored after Campbell failed to call time out prior to a mound meeting between Blades and Brown.
Brown came back with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to tie the score at 4-all, then Derek Barrows launched a two-out, two-run homer off reliever James Callahan to provide the winning margin.
Blades (3-0) went the distance in the opener, scattering seven hits with two walks and striking out five. Saxton was the tough-luck loser, giving up five runs on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
In the second game, Campbell staked starter Matt Kleweno (2-5) to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but the Camels could not hold on. Tom Rispoli tripled in two runs in the first, then Jeff Blick delivered an RBI double and Barrows hit a sacrifice fly to double the margin in the second.
After FAU cut the game to 4-2 on Shaen O'Connor's two-run double in the fourth, the Camels pushed the margin to 5-2 in the bottom of the frame on Brown's RBI single.
FAU scored five times in the sixth on a three-run shot by Rusty Brown to right-center and a two-run homer by Rob Horst off reliever Pat Murray. In the bottom of the sixth, Barrows' RBI ground out cut the gap to one, but FAU scored two unearned runs in the seventh, thanks to a pair of Camel errors to provide the final margin.
Reliever Chris Della Rocco (2-0) earned the victory for FAU in game two with 1 1/3 innings of relief work. FAU finished the second contest with 10 hits, including two each from Mike Murray, Rusty Brown and Shaen O'Connor.
Deanda led a 13-hit attack in the second game for the Camels with three hits. Barrows, Rispoli and Phillip Strickland had a pair of hits for the Camels.
Campbell's win was its second of the year against nationally-ranked opponents. The Camels are 2-6 vs. nationally-ranked foes this year, including 1-3 records against FAU and Miami, plus a 0-2 mark at Georgia Tech.
A-Sun leader FAU improved to 32-9 on the year, 16-5 in the league. Campbell, which finished its four series against the A-Sun Florida schools with a 6-6 record, stands 14-21, 9-15 in the league.
The Fighting Camels host East Carolina on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in a make up of the Mar. 19 game that was rained out.
[Game One | Game Two]
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Players Mentioned

Derek Barrows

#6 Derek Barrows

3B
6' 1"
Senior
Josh Blades

#18 Josh Blades

P
6' 4"
Junior
Jeff Blick

#5 Jeff Blick

OF/2B
5' 7"
Sophomore
Jason Brown

#22 Jason Brown

C
5' 11"
Sophomore
Matt Kleweno

#33 Matt Kleweno

P
6' 2"
Senior
Tom Rispoli

#1 Tom Rispoli

SS/P
6' 1"
Junior
Phillip Strickland

#34 Phillip Strickland

2B
5' 7"
Sophomore
Chris Wiley

#31 Chris Wiley

DH/C
6' 0"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Derek Barrows

#6 Derek Barrows

6' 1"
Senior
3B
Josh Blades

#18 Josh Blades

6' 4"
Junior
P
Jeff Blick

#5 Jeff Blick

5' 7"
Sophomore
OF/2B
Jason Brown

#22 Jason Brown

5' 11"
Sophomore
C
Matt Kleweno

#33 Matt Kleweno

6' 2"
Senior
P
Tom Rispoli

#1 Tom Rispoli

6' 1"
Junior
SS/P
Phillip Strickland

#34 Phillip Strickland

5' 7"
Sophomore
2B
Chris Wiley

#31 Chris Wiley

6' 0"
Sophomore
DH/C