CLINTON, S.C. – Campbell held on with Presbyterian College threatening in the bottom of the seventh to notch a 5-4 victory on Friday evening at the PC Softball Complex. A pair of two-RBI performances were tallied by sophomores center fielder Stephanie Jones (Black Mountain, Tenn.) and third baseman Brittany Bruce (Lumberton, N.C.).
Presbyterian (17-18, 3-5 Big South) tallied one run in the fifth and sixth to cut the Campbell (25-12, 9-2 Big South) lead to 5-3. A lead-off solo homer by Morgan Durham off senior reliever Brittany Arnn (Danville, Va.) brought the deficit to 5-4.
The rally continued for the Blue Hose as Tera Powell singled through the right side and moved to second with one out on a ground ball to short. Arnn registered a strikeout and liner caught by Bruce at third to pick up her first save of the season.
Freshman pitcher Courtney Roberts (Simpsonville, S.C.) started the contest and fanned five in six innings, giving up two earned runs to improve to 13-4. The loss was tagged to Kensley Loudermelk (9-8), who tossed four innings and yielded five runs, but just two earned with two punch outs.
Finishing up the contest was Sydney Seigler with one strikeout in three frames tossed.
Campbell registered eight hits and was led offensively by junior first baseman Raven Lee (Battleboro, N.C.) with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Multi-hit games were also achieved by freshman catcher Courtney Klingler (Alvin, Texas) and Jones.
Powell totaled three hits for the Blue Hose, who recorded eight base knocks. Cat Tarvin notched two hits and two RBI including a solo homer to start the sixth.
There were numerous opportunities for the Camels to break the game open as they left eight runners on base and had the leadoff batter reach first in each frame.
After Campbell threatened with two runners in the first, Presbyterian put the first run on the scoreboard by totaling three hits including an RBI double by Tarvin to left center. Roberts then settled into the game and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to strand two runners in the scoring position.
The Camels had a golden opportunity in the third as Jones walked and Klingler singled up the middle to put runners on the corners. A high chopping ball up the middle by Lee ended the chance as the shortstop Kirby Legacki fielded the ball, stepped on second and threw to first for the inning-ending double play.
An mistake by the Blue Hose defensively started the fourth as a double by junior Olivia Scarborough (Buies Creek, N.C.) placed two runners in scoring position without an out. The game-tying run was brought home on a fielder's choice by Bruce.
With two outs, Jones came up and hit a ball that glanced off the pitcher's glove, leading to an infield single to second as two runs crossed the plate to enable the Camels take a 3-1 lead.
The Camels loaded the bases in the fifth on singles by Klingler and Lee and a hit-by-pitch to Forgacs. Two hard hit balls appeared to be going through the right side until the second baseman Durham made diving stops to the right and left side to rob Scarborough and Bruce of base hits, but a run did scored on each play to increase the lead to 5-1.
Presbyterian cut the advantage to 5-2 in the fifth as an error enabled for Powell to score from second on a sharply hit ball by Jill McLean.
The teams resume the series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon at the Presbyterian Softball Complex. Live stats and free audio can be found on the softball schedule page of GoCamels.com.
