Contact: Chris Kilcoyne

Camels Use Strong Pitching in 4-1 Over UNC Wilmington

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Three Campbell pitchers allowed just two base runners over the first eight innings and then survived a rally in the ninth by UNC Wilmington as the Camels downed the Seahawks, 4-1, in college baseball action Wednesday night at Brooks Field.
The Camels, who dropped a 7-4 contest to the Seahawks on April 1 in Buies Creek, salvaged a split in the regular season series, improving to 15-22 this season. The Seahawks lost for the third time in their last four outings and now stand 26-14.

CU starter Josh Blades hiked his record to 4-0 by retiring all nine batters he faced, striking out two Seahawks. Relievers Matt Kleweno and Joey Babyak finished the job, scattering five hits the rest of the way to nail down the victory. Babyak was credited with his first save after working the final three frames and surrendering one run on four hits, walking one and striking out two.

UNCW's Jeff Moore, the first of six pitchers for the Seahawks, worked 2 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits, walking one and fanning one in having his record evened at 1-1.

Sophomore catcher Jason Brown went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in to pace the Camels offensively. Leadoff batter Jeff Blick went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles and scored once. Five different Seahawks had one hit apiece.

The Camels carried a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but withstood a furious rally with the help of a bizarre ending to nail down the win. UNCW's Brad Denson opened the ninth with a single and moved to third on a single by pinch-hitter Mitch Williams. However, Williams was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit into a double and Denson then scored on a passed ball to cut the deficit to 4-1. UNCW started the rally again when Chip Grawey singled down the rightfield line and Matt Wright walked, but Jamie Hemingway was called out on an infield fly rule when Brown misplayed his pop-up in front of the plate and the game then ended in a double play as Grawey was tagged out at third trying to advance.

Campbell struck first by scoring three runs in the top of the third inning. After Kyle Ellenz fanned to lead off the inning, Chris Wiley drew a one-out walk and raced to second on a single to rightfield by Blick. Sal Deanda then delivered an RBI single to plate Wiley and Matt Carter replaced Moore. Carter then induced a ground ball out from Derek Barrows, but Brown ripped a first-pitch offering from Carter into the leftfield corner to score both Blick and Deanda for a 3-0 cushion.

The Camels added another run in the fourth. With one out, designated hitter Phillip Strickland tripled to right field and came home on an RBI single to left by Kyle Ellenz.

The Camels jump back into Atlantic Sun play with a three-game set against Belmont, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
[Box Score]