JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Pete Clifford
and Mike McCallister both hit two-run homers to give Jacksonville
(21-17, 6-6 A-Sun) a 5-3 victory, and three-game sweep of Campbell
(7-27, 2-10 A-Sun) Saturday afternoon at Alexander Brest Field.
Matt Davis (1-1) picked up
the victory by pitching three innings of scoreless relief. Blake
Herring (1-6) pitched his third complete game of the year,
scattering seven hits and four earned runs over his eight innings
of work.
The seventh inning saw
Campbell miss a golden opportunity to take the lead and
Jacksonville land a big blow to take a two-run advantage. The
Camels had first and third with one out in the top half, but a
failed squeeze attempt and a strikeout thwarted the threat. Herring
retired the first two Dolphins in the bottom half, but a walk to
Clifford was followed with McCallister's game-winning home run to
stake the Dolphins to a 5-3 lead.
The Camels mounted a
last-gasp effort in the ninth, as Daniel Smith and Brandon
Scott singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but a Ryan
Hamme line-out and a Mike Causey strikeout ended
the CU comeback attempt.
Campbell threatened in the fourth
inning, nearly making something out of nothing. With two outs and
the bases empty, The Camels strung together a single and two walks
to load the bases for Blake Lowry. Starter Matt
Dobbins coaxed an inning-ending fielders choice out of the
freshman, keeping the score 2-0. The Dolphins responded with an
unearned run in the next inning to make it a 3-0
ballgame.
Campbell came back in the fifth inning
with another two-out rally, this time producing three runs. Smith
started the spurt with a single to center and was followed by
back-to-back doubles by Hamme and Scott. A Causey groundball was
then thrown away by third baseman Chuck Opachich, scoring Hamme and
tying the game at three.
Herring cruised through the
first 2.1 innings but ran into the red-hot Clifford in the third
inning, as he belted a two-run home run to put the Dolphins on the
board first. It was Clifford's second home run in as many games and
his ninth and 10th RBIs on the weekend.
Campbell out-hit the Dolphins 13-7 but
left 11 men on base. Smith and Scott led the way for the Camel
offense, as they were 3-5 and 4-4 respectively. Robb Meng
and Hamme also contributed with two hits apiece. Ryan McArdle was
the lone Dolphin with multiple hits as Clifford and McCallister
came through with the big home runs.
Clifford ended the weekend
5-12 with two home runs and 10 RBIs. Thomas LePage and Kevin
Ferreira both landed seven hits of their own on the weekend to pace
the Dolphins. Smith went 4-8 and Scott was 5-11 to lead
CU.
Campbell returns to action on Tuesday
hosting Barton while Jacksonville travels to Tallahassee to face
Florida State. First pitch from Taylor Field Tuesday is set for
7:00 p.m.
