WILMINGTON, N.C. – Seth
Frankoff pitched seven strong innings to pick up his first career
win and Matt Holt went 3-4 with a three-run home run to lead UNC
Wilmington (12-12, 4-2 CAA) to a 6-2 victory over Campbell (4-19,
0-3 A-Sun) Tuesday evening at Brooks Field.
Quinn LeSage (0-6) took the
loss, giving up one earned run in two innings, in a six-pitcher
effort for
Campbell. Frankoff (1-1) had the best outing of his young career,
as the freshman struck out eight, allowing two unearned runs in
seven-plus innings of work, dropping his ERA from 9.00 to 3.75.
Former Camel Larry Salefsky came into the finish the game for UNCW
in the ninth inning, striking out two.
The Camel loss was their
ninth in a row, and seventh straight at the hands of the Seahawks.
The last Camel victory in the series came in 2003 in Wilmington by
a count of 4-3, as UNCW now holds a 48-33 all-time advantage over
CU.
Holt stole the show
offensively for the Seahawks as the freshman blasted his third home
run of the year and added two more singles to pump up his average
from .263 to .295. Nate Hall broke a 1-for-15 slump by going 2-3
and adding an RBI of his own from the ninth spot in the order. Five
Camel players had one hit on the evening, with Campbell's two runs
coming off an error on a Ryan Hamme fly ball in the
eighth inning.
The big blow of the game came
in the fourth inning via Holt. Blake Herring began his first
inning on the bump by plunking Mark Carver with his first pitch.
Kevin Hodges struck out and was followed by a Hall single, bringing
Holt to the plate. Herring got ahead 1-2, but hung a change-up to
Holt, who deposited the offering over the left field wall for a 4-0
Seahawk lead. Wilmington's other three runs came on sacrifice flies
in the first, sixth and eighth innings by Jonathan Batts, Grayson
Evans and Hall respectively.
Campbell managed to cut the Seahawk
lead to three in the top of the eighth. Zach Johnson and Bryan
Braswell poked back-to-back singles to start the inning,
chasing Frankoff from the game. Allen Flood came in and got the
next two Campbell hitters, but centerfielder Evans made an error on
Hamme's slicing fly ball to allow the only two Camel
runs.
Carlton Floyd saw his 12 game
hit-streak come to a screeching halt, as the sophomore went 0-4 on
the game, striking out twice. Rob Lyerly had a hit on the
evening and has now hit safely in four of his last five games after
going hitless in five straight games.
For Wilmington, Carver moved
his hit streak to six and Steve Halford recorded his team-best
11th multi-hit game, going 2-4. Holt also has now hit
safely in 11 of his last 13 games.
The weekend brings conference
series for both teams, as UNCW travels to Norfolk, Va. to face Old
Dominion, while Campbell hosts Belmont for its first home A-Sun
series. Friday's doubleheader between the Bruins and Camels is set
to begin at 4:00.
