GREENVILLE, N.C.-Gaining its first doubleheader sweep of East
Carolina in over 10 years, Campbell used 18 combined runs to defeat
the Pirates 6-3 and 12-4 in non-conference action Wednesday evening
at the ECU Softball Field.
With the
win, the Camels go to 35-21 overall, while the Pirates fall to
30-25, suffering their fourth straight loss.
In game
one, Campbell jumped on the board in its first at-bat, as junior
first baseman Karlie Love drove in freshman centerfielder Katie
Hinton, who reached on a walk.
In the CU
fourth, the Camels struck again, posting five runs off five hits.
Freshman second baseman Keeli Michael started the CU rally,
knocking in sophomore Shayla Cullum before Brittany Stanley, a
sophomore pitcher, drove in a run on a base hit. Senior leftfielder
Courtney Quinn then picked up a two-RBI single, followed by a
Hinton RBI hit, capping off the big inning.
After
three consecutive base hits to start the ECU fifth, the Pirates put
a run up as sophomore Cristen Aona crossed on a wild pitch. Charina
Sumner then registered an RBI on a sacrifice fly to left, before
junior Angel Barrella doubled in another ECU score.
With a 6-3
lead in the final frame, Stanley allowed one hit, but with the aid
of two Camel errors, ECU managed to load the bases before the
sophomore hurler induced the game-ending putout.
Stanley
(19-8), gaining the win, offered up three runs on seven hits in the
contest, striking out three and walking two, while ECU's junior
pitcher Brooke Swann (18-18) was charged with the loss, going three
and one third innings with six runs, five earned, two strikouts and
a pair of walks.
In the
nightcap, the Camels, again, jumped on top early, scoring five in
the first inning. Cullum started the barrage with a RBI-double,
scoring senior leftfielder Courtney Quinn. Love then registered a
double of her own, plating a pair of runs before freshman second
baseman Keeli Michael and Stanley, filling the designated player
role, collected RBI of their own to give the Camels a 5-0 lead
after a half inning.
In the
second, the Campbell offense showed it was still in full swing.
Quinn belted a solo home run to start things off, her record
18th of the season, followed by a Pirate fielding error
that scored Cullum. The Camels racked up three more runs in the
third inning, coming off a Shayla Cullum homer, her sixth of the
year, giving the Camels the 10-0 advantage.
The
Pirates, refusing to go down without a fight, pushed three runs
across in the fourth on four hits, as sophomore Tiffany Shaw,
Barrella and Sumner all collected RBI singles.
Cullum
then padded the Campbell lead, belting her second homer of the game
to give her six RBI in the contest, a two-run blast that also
scored Hinton. The Pirates mustered one more in their final at-bat,
but it was not enough, falling to the Camels by a 12-4
decision.
CU
freshman Lauren Stephan (14-13) earned the win for the Camels,
going the distance while allowing four runs on nine hits, striking
out four and walking two. Suzanne Riggs (3-3), an ECU freshman,
took the loss, completing just two-thirds of an inning, while
giving up five runs on five hits with one walk.
The Camels
will be in action again this weekend at the Eakes Complex, taking
Atlantic Sun foe Gardner-Webb in a 4 p.m. doubleheader.