BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Campbell split a twinbill with North Carolina
A&T on Saturday at Taylor Field winning game one by a score of
14-5 and dropping game two by a 5-3 tally.
Game one was filled
with Campbell offense as the Fighting Camels scored 14 runs off of
twelve hits. Zach Johnson led the
offensive attack going 1-3 with four RBI and Chris Bangi contributed
a 3-for-4 performance that led to two RBI.
The Campbell pitching
staff allowed one earned run off of seven North Carolina A&T
hits. Matt
Sergey was credited with the win as the righty pitched five
innings while only allowing three hits to move to 1-0 on the
season.
The Fighting Camels
were able to score two in the first and one in the second to take
an early 3-0 lead but the Aggies would close the gap by one as Ryan
Carlton scored on a wild pitch by Sergey.
Campbell (4-3) scored
six runs in the bottom of the fourth that proved to be the crushing
blow to the Aggies. The scoring started with a Kevin
Nelson RBI single to right field that scored Alan Denman. Chris
Bangi knocked a double to right center that scored two runners
in Nelson and Bryan Braswell. Following
DJ Johnson and Ellis
Lowe being hit by pitches, Zach Johnson knock a
bases clearing double to right center to end the Campbell scoring
for the inning.
Campbell followed
that fourth inning effort with scoring two runs in the fifth, one
in the sixth and two in the seventh.
A&T (2-4) had a
big inning of their own as they scored three in the top of the
seventh. Xavier Macklin started the A&T scoring with a single
just past DJ Johnson at third base
that scored Andre McKoy. Macklin later came around to score on a
DJ Johnson error. George
Hines knocked in the third run as sent a single into left field
scoring Marquis Riley.
Bo Rein was dealt the
loss for the Aggies as the freshman from High Point moves to 0-1 on
the 2010 campaign. Rein went 3.2 innings while giving up nine
earned runs off of eight hits.
In game two the tide
turned and it was the A&T pitching that pushed them to the
lead. Led by a strong effort from senior Nick Rogers the Aggies
were able to survive a late Fighting Camel push to win 5-3.
Rogers went six
innings strong while giving up just one earned run off of five
hits. The Greensboro product moves to 2-0 on the campaign.
Campbell held a 1-0
lead through four innings off of a Cameron
Nelson RBI single into shallow left field in the second
inning. In the fifth though A&T would grab their first lead of
the series as starting pitcher Nick Rogers helped his own cause
with a RBI double to right center that scored George Hines. Lester
Rivenbark scored Rogers later in the inning with a RBI single to
left field.
That 2-1 lead held
true for the Aggies until they were able to increase the lead to
5-1 following the top of the seventh. Mark Nales sent a 2-2 pitch
from Ben
Brown into right field to score Kelvin Freeman. Following a
Dario Little walk to load the bases Brown exited the contest in
favor of Logan
Self. With the first A&T batter that Self faced though
he sent a wild pitch to the backstop that would score Rivenbark
from third base. The last of the runs was a sacrifice fly to right
field from Macklin that brought around Dario Little.
The offensive attack
wasn't finished for the Fighting Camels as they scored two runs to
cut into the A&T lead in the bottom half of the seventh. The
scoring started with Kevin Nelson crossing home
following an error by third baseman Dario Little. Alex
Aycoth later walked in a run as the senior pushed across Ellis
Lowe.
The North Carolina
A&T bullpen held strong from that point on as they only allowed
one hit in the top of the eighth and held on for their second win
of the 2010 campaign.
Frank Zier was dealt
the loss as the sophomore pitched 4.1 innings while giving up two
earned runs off of just three hits. Zier now sits at 1-1 on the
season.
Campbell will be back
in action at home on Tuesday against Atlantic 10 opponent Xavier.
That game was originally scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. but due to
the threat of inclement weather conditions the game has been pushed
back to a 4:00 p.m. first pitch. Campbell will continue their
homestand as they will face off against in state rival UNC
Wilmington on Wednesday in what is slated to be a 6:00 p.m.
start.