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BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Jimmy Monaghan drove in two and Nick Thayer pitched 7 2/3 with just one earned run to lead Campbell in a 4-3 Big South series opening win over High Point Friday at Jim Perry Stadium.
The win moved Campbell (25-23 overall) into a tie with the Panthers (29-19) for second place in the Big South standings at 12-7. Game two of the series is set for 3 p.m. Saturday. Sunday's finale is set for a 2 p.m. start.
Monaghan doubled in Junior Snow, who led off with a double of his own, in the bottom of the third tying the game at 2-all. The freshman then came around on Zach Minnick's RBI single to make it 3-2 Camels.
A La Plata, Md. native, Monaghan homered in the fifth, driving a 1-1 offering over the wall in right and giving CU a 4-2 lead. The home run marked the freshman's sixth of the season.
Nick Thayer (8-5), making his final home start in a Campbell uniform, pitched 7 2/3 with three runs, one earned, on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Erik Dowse entered the game with two out in the eighth and a Panther in scoring position, striking out one and walking one for his fifth save.
Scot Hoffman (5-4) was charged with the loss for HPU, allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Nick Niarchos, Jeremy Johnson and Joe Goodman combined for two scoreless innings in relief.
Anthony Lopez was 1-for-4, leading off the bottom of the first with his seventh home run of the season. The leadoff homer marked Campbell's first since Jimmy Brenneman in 2012 (Holy Cross), and the fourth first inning round tripper for the senior this season.
Tim Mansfield paced High Point at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run. The Panther left fielder scored a run in the first on Hunter Lee's RBI base hit and knocked in another in the top of the third with an infield single, giving HPU a 2-1 lead.
Four of Campbell's six hits went for extra bases, including two homers. High Point left nine on base in the loss.
Campbell will hit the road for the final week of the 2016 season, traveling to East Carolina on Tuesday, May 17, before closing the year with a three game Big South set at Coastal Carolina, May 19-21.
