CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Fighting Camels out-hit the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels six to five, but left 18 runners on base, suffering a 4-2 defeat Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium.
Collin Wolf (3-for-4) accounted for half of Campbell's six hits, recording three singles for his third three-hit outing of the season. The junior reached base safely in four of his five at-bats, also drawing a walk.
Spencer Packard (2-for-5) also logged a multi-hit outing with a pair of base hits; Matthew Barefoot (1-for-4, RBI) drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh for CU's lone RBI of the night. The redshirt-junior singled in the ninth to round out CU's six hits. He stole his Big South-leading 14th base in the fourth inning.
Andrew Grogan (1-0) collected the win, tossing 3.1 innings of relief, while striking out five. Ben Casparius earned the save, allowing no runs over the final 2.1 innings.
Kevin Westlake (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs across 3.0 innings. The junior struck out three and walked three.
Campbell jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Gimenez was hit by a pitch before Packard singled in the infield. Wolf also beat out an infield single as the throw from the third baseman pulled the first baseman off the bag, which allowed Gimenez to score from second.
The Tar Heels responded in the home half of the first with two runs. Westlake allowed consecutive walks to the first two Tar Heel batters and both advanced on a groundout before scoring on a two-out, two-RBI single.
Carolina added another pair of runs in the third inning to go ahead 4-1. The leadoff batter walked on four pitches, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout to right field and then scored by way of a sacrifice fly into center field. The sac fly put two outs on the board, but a misplaced ball in right field fell in for a double to keep the inning going. One batter later, an RBI single drove in UNC's fourth and final run of the ballgame.
Despite not recording a hit in the seventh, Campbell cut Carolina's lead in half, scoring a run after four walks. Barefoot's bases-loaded walk scored Wolf from third.
Barefoot singled in the ninth with two away, bringing the tying run to the plate, but a strikeout ended the game.
Up next, the Camels welcome the Presbyterian Blue Hose for weekend Big South series at Jim Perry Stadium. The three-game set is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, March 29-31.
