HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Campbell softball team fell on Saturday to Western Kentucky, 8-1, and No. 20 Hawaii, 8-5, at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational.
Sophomore shortstop Ericka Nesbitt (Salisbury, N.C.) went an impressive 7-of-8 at the plate and scored four runs in the doubleheader, while classmate center fielder Stephanie Jones (Black Mountain, N.C.) registered five hits, two doubles and two RBI for Campbell (8-6)
The Camels out-hit Hawaii (11-4), 9-to-7, but the Rainbow Wahine scored four times in the fifth and tacked on two more in the sixth to notch the come-from-behind victory.
Western Kentucky (6-4) broke open the contest in the morning with a three-run fourth to take a 5-0 lead. Campbell plated its only run in the sixth as freshman pinch runner Haley Haselden (Aynor, S.C.) crossed the plate.
Freshman catcher Courtney Klingler (Alvin, Texas) blasted her fourth home run of the season against the Rainbow Wahine to provide the Camels with a 3-2 lead in the fifth.
Campbell is the No. 4 seed in bracket play and will open Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern vs. Western Kentucky. The Camels second game is set for either 8 or 10 p.m. Eastern.
Game One: Western Kentucky 8, Campbell 1
Western Kentucky pounded out 11 hits and earned an 8-1 victory against Campbell. The Camels tallied eight hits of their own, but left nine runners on base.
Sophomore left fielder Kerstine Womack (Broadway, N.C.), Nesbitt and Jones each notched multi-hit games for Campbell.
Taking the loss in the circle was freshman starter Courtney Roberts (Simpsonville, S.C.), who tossed 3.2 innings and struck out two opponents to fall to 2-3. Junior Olivia Scarborough (Buies Creek, N.C.) pitched 2.1 innings before sophomore Julia Callicutt (Asheboro, N.C.) took over and fanned two in the final inning.
The Lady Topper offense was fueled by multi-hit games from Preslie Cruce, Kelsie Mattox and Amanda Thomas, the two through four hitters in the lineup. Brooke Holloway and Curce each hit round trippers.
The victory was given to Mallorie Sulaski (2-1), who went the distance and struck out five.
In the first, WKU struck in the top-half with a leadoff single by Olivia Watkins, who swiped second and reached third on a sac bunt. She came around to score on a fielder's choice.
Nesbitt opened the bottom of the frame with an infield single to third and stole second with one out. The Salisbury, N.C. advanced to third on a single by Jones, but a strikeout ended the threat.
During the third, the Lady Toppers tacked on another run on a solo homer to center by Cruce.
Again in the bottom-half, Campbell threatened after a back-to-back hits by Womack and Nesbitt to put two on with no outs, but WKU picked off Nesbit for the first out. Womack would be cut down at the plate for the second out before the Lady Toppers retired the side.
Western Kentucky took control of the contest with three runs on three hits in the fourth, highlighted by Holloway's home run. The lead was stretched to 6-0 in the fifth on consecutive doubles by Thomas and Metoyer.
Another opportunity presented itself for Campbell in the fifth as sophomore second baseman Maggie Christopher (Awendaw, N.C.) drew a walk to start the inning off. Womack and Nesibitt notched singles to load the bases with one out, but Campbell was unable to cut into the lead.
A single by Thomas up the middle in the sixth put the Lady Toppers up 8-0.
The Camels started a two-out rally in the seventh with a Lee double down the right field line. Two walks to Christopher and Scarborough loaded the bases before the first run crossed the plate on a fielding miscue.
Neither team was able to score in the final frame as WKU picked up the 8-1 victory.
Game Two: No. 20 Hawaii 8, Campbell 5
Campbell's Nesbitt tied a career-best by going 4-for-4 with three runs scored in an 8-5 loss to No. 20 Hawaii. The Camels had leads of 2-0 and 4-2, but could not shut down a high-powered Hawaii offense that struck for six runs in the final two innings.
Three hits were registered by Jones, while Klingler, who blasted her fourth homer of the campaign, also notched a multi-hit game.
The loss was credited to senior pitcher Brittany Arnn (Danville, Va.), who tossed 4.1 innings and struck out three. Striking out three opponents in 1.2 innings of relief was Callicutt, giving up three runs.
Hawaii saw two hits delivered by Jessica Iwata, Leisha Li'ili'I and Jazmine Zamora. Zamora and Iwata also connected on home runs. Kaia Paraby improved to 9-2 on the season with nine strikeouts in the complete-game victory
Starting off the first was Nesbitt with a single to left. Sophomore third baseman Brittany Bruce (Lumberton, N.C.) moved her to second on a sac bunt before Jones doubled into the left-center gap to put the Camels up 1-0.
The Rainbow Wahine came close to answering in the second as they loaded the bases on a walk, single and error, but a pop up ended the threat.
A leadoff double by Nesbitt put Campbell in business during the third. She took third on a wild pitch and scored on a mistake by the right fielder off the bat of Jones.
During the bottom half, Arnn sent down the first two in order, but a double by Carlos and home run by Iwata knotted the contest up at two.
The first pitch delivered in the fourth was deposited over the fence in left by Klingler to put Campbell back on top, 3-2.
After the Rainbow Wahine stranded two runners, Nesbitt beat out an infield single to third as the first hitter in the fifth. Lee drew a walk before Nesbitt scored on a Jones single through the right side.
With two runners on, a double play turned by the Rainbow Wahine ended the frame.
The Hawaii offense came through in the fifth with four runs on two hits. A walk and error proved costly as Zamora ended the scoring with a two-run blast to left.
During the bottom of the sixth, doubles by Kelley Majam and Carlos tacked on two more insurance runs to give the Rainbow Wahine an 8-4 advantage.
Campbell got one run back as Nesbitt began the seventh with a single up the middle. After advancing to second on a groundout, Nesbitt scored on a Jones double to right, 8-5.
