BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell split games during the opening day of the sixth annual Camel Stampede on Friday at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium. CU began the day with a 6-2 loss to Georgia Tech and followed with a 7-0 victory over La Salle.
With the split, the Camels remain at .500 with a 6-6 overall record thus far in 2018. Georgia Tech also split on the day to move to 3-6 on the year, while La Salle opened their season on Friday with two losses.
Game one: Georgia Tech 6, Campbell 2
Georgia Tech jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning of play, as Rebecca Prairie smashed a homer to right center, her second of the season.
The Yellow Jackets tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-0 lead over the Fighting Camels. Cameron Stanford hit a lead-off single and was brought home off a fielding error by the Campbell defense. Three plays later, Prairie recorded her second hit of the day to score Kelsey Chisholm, who reached base via a walk.
CU fought back in the fifth inning, scoring two runs to cut Ga Tech's lead to one run at 3-2. With a 1-0 count,
Madison Herring knocked a two-run home run to left field to bring home
Christa Hall. This was Herring's third career home run and first since March 8, 2017 against Lipscomb.
Georgia Tech pushed the lead back to four runs at 6-2 with three runs in the seventh inning. All three runs came with two outs on the board, as the Jackets opened the inning with a groundout and popup.
Stanford started off the scoring with a double to left center field to bring home Lilly Hooper, who reached base after being hit by a pitch. A triple by Chisholm scored Stanford, while a single by Bianca Mora brought Chisholm home.
Naomi Dickerson (1-2) picked up the win after pitching 4.2 innings while allowing three hits, two runs and striking out two. Brooke Barfield earned her first save of the season after pitching 2.1 innings in relief for the Jackets.
Megan Richards (3-3) was tabbed with the loss after conceding three runs during six innings of work from the circle.
Haley Hutchins pitched the final inning for CU, giving up three hits and three runs.
Game two: Campbell 7, La Salle 0
Campbell opened up the scoring in the first inning of play with one run to take a 1-0 lead over the Explorers.
Lizabeth McCurry doubled to left center field and was brought home with a
Caroline Smith double.
In the fifth inning of play, the Camels tacked on two more runs to take a 3-0 lead over La Salle.
Megan Mozingo got on base via a walk and scored off of a single through the left side by Herring. On the next play, Mozingo was brought home thanks to a single down the left field line by
Rachel McCollum.
The Fighting Camels added on four more runs in the sixth inning to bring the game to its final score of 7-0.
Caroline Smith,
Katie Manring and
Abby Perryman all scored runs for the Orange and Black during the inning.
Smith opened up the scoring with a lead-off home run to left center field, her second long ball of the 2018 season. Her first homer was in Campbell's 3-1 win over Bucknell on Feb. 15.
With two runners on base, Mozingo smashed a double to left center field to bring home Manring. On the next play, Perryman scored following a fielding error by the Explorers' defense. Campbell executed a double steal to score the final run of the game, as Hall stole second and Mozingo stole home.
Lexy Head (2-2) recorded a three-hit complete game shutout to earn the win for the Fighting Camels on Friday evening. She fanned six batters across seven innings of play in the circle.
Reilly Gearhart (0-1) was charged with the loss after allowing nine hits and seven runs during six innings pitched. She recorded six strikeouts and walked four batters over the course of the game.
The Camels will return to action tomorrow against Fairfield at 3 p.m. and La Salle at 5:30 p.m. during day two at the Camel Stampede. For the latest information about Campbell softball, make sure to follow @GoCamelsRun on Twitter.
