BUIES CREEK, N.C. Robb
Meng's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave
Campbell (7-24, 2-7 A-Sun) an 11-10, come-from behind victory over
North Carolina A&T (9-19, 3-3 MEAC) Wednesday evening at Taylor
Field.
Ryan Hamme (2-0) tallied his
second win of the season, going two innings in relief allowing one
earned run while striking out one. Ron Phelps (0-3) came on in the ninth
to take the loss for A&T, giving up a Brandon Scott double,
and Meng's two-out poke, sending A&T to their third straight
defeat.
Campbell
completed its
second comeback of the night in the ninth via the bat of Meng.
A&T reliever Phelps recorded the first two outs of the inning
before giving up the two-out double to Scott, who had broken a 0-21
streak earlier in the game. Meng strode to the plate and lined a
Phelps offering to right, inches from the reach of right fielder
Charlie Gamble to give the Camels their first midweek victory since
March 6.
Daniel Smith had a stand-out
night for Campbell, as the Raleigh native posted career highs in
hits and runs going 4-4 with three runs scored from the ninth slot
in the order. Six other Camels recorded multi-hits with Meng
matching a season high in hits, going 3-6, with two RBIs on the
evening.
CU had trailed up until the
bottom of the seventh inning when they used a three-run burst to
claim an 8-6 lead. Back-to-back doubles by Mike Causey and Todd
Matthews with one-out tied the game at six before CU rallied
for two more with two outs. Carlton Floyd's single plated
Matthews from third and a Jacob Allen bunt base gave CU
the two-run advantage heading into the eighth.
A&T quickly dashed
comeback with one swing of the bat. A&T quickly loaded the
bases off a single, and a Floyd hit batsman and walk. Hamme came in
to relieve Floyd and allowed a run on a Joe Wade sacrifice fly to
make it 8-7 Campbell. CJ Beatty then delivered towering opposite
field, three-run home run off the Natatorium beyond the left field
fence to reclaim the lead for the Aggies at 10-8.
Campbell's resiliency showed, quickly
tying the game in the eighth after the Beatty blast. Scott tripled
to start the inning and scored on a Causey infield single to close
the gap to 10-9. With
Camels on first and third with two-outs Smith came up with perhaps
the biggest of his four hits, brining in Causey with a single for
the tying tenth run. Floyd almost gave CU the lead in the next
at-bat, but Zach Johnson was thrown out
at the plate by Jeremy Jones to keep things knotted at
10.
Gamble gave A&T an early
3-0 lead in the first inning, belting a three-run home run, his
third of the season. A&T scored in each of the first three
innings to go ahead 6-3 before Campbell clawed their way back into
the game with single runs in the second, fourth and sixth innings
before the big finsh.
Despite the home run, the
Camels recorded its first victory of the season when their opponent
scores in the first inning. It was also the first victory when the
CU opponent scores 10 or more runs. CU also set season highs in
hits, with 18, and men left on base, with 13. Trevor
Smith went a career long five innings to keep the Camels within
striking distance. Matthews recorded his first career triple and
threw out two Aggies attempting to steal while he Floyd, Allen,
Scott and Causey all had two hits for the CU offense.
Phillip Brewington and Kory
Kinnear were both 3-4 for A&T while Nick Mayo added three hits
of his own from the lead-off slot. Gamble and Beatty added one more
hit to go along with their three-run homers and Jones' six-game hit
streak came to an end with a 0-5 evening.
The Camels and Aggies both
have conference games this weekend, as A&T hosts
Bethune-Cookman Saturday and Sunday, while CU travels to
Jacksonville for three games on Friday and Saturday. First pitch
for the JU-Campbell doubleheader Friday is set for 4:00.