SHELBY, N.C. — AJ Hrica launched his first home run as a Fighting Camel with a grand slam in the sixth inning to lead the Fighting Camels to an 11-3 series-clinching victory over Gardner-Webb in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Keeter Stadium.
Hrica went 3-for-4 and finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. He hit his grand slam in Campbell's seven-run sixth inning, good for his first long ball as a Fighting Camel. Additionally, it was the second home run of the Indian River State College transfer's three-year college career. Hrica batted 7-for-14 (.500) against the Runnin' Bulldogs to lead all hitters in the series; he drove in seven runs.
Redshirt-sophomore Logan Heintzman (2-1) earned his second victory in Sunday's win after collecting his first win versus Presbyterian a week ago. The Hamilton, Ohio, native went 2.2 innings and allowed no earned runs on three hits and a strikeout. Over his last three outings, Heintzman has gone nine innings in relief, accumulating 10 strikeouts while issuing just three walks.
Kyle Ruehlman (3-2) suffered the loss, allowing eight earned runs on six hits and three walks over his 5.1 innings on the mound.
The left side of Campbell's defense combined to go 4-for-10 at the plate as Luis Gimenez, the shortstop, and Collin Wolf, the third baseman, both went 2-for-5. Both collected a double in the win, while Wolf added a triple, his first as a Fighting Camel; Wolf also drove in three runs.
Spencer Packard, Grant Harris and Koby Collins each collected a base hit as Campbell finished the day with 10 hits, the sixth game in which the Camels reached double-digit hits in conference play.
The Campbell backstop Zach Minnick was hit by a pitch in the top of the sixth, moving Campbell's HBP total to 61, which leads the Big South and nearly doubles the next closest team – Longwood (33). Campbell has recorded at least one hit by pitch in all but three games this season, including each of its last 12 games. Nine times the Camels have been plunked by three or more pitches in a single game (3 HBP - 6x, 4 HBP - 3x, 5+ HBP - 1x).
Redshirt-junior Joey Skracic, who sat out his junior year in 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery, made his Campbell Fighting Camel debut in the win. The transfer from San Joaquin Delta College appeared in the bottom of ninth and got a batter looking and then swinging for the first two outs of the frame. With two runners in scoring position, Skracic dealt a groundout to get the final three outs of the ballgame.
The Camels were sat down in order in the first, but in the second, Packard drew a leadoff walk. With one out, he advanced to second via a balk, but a groundout and flyout stranded him there. It was the first time all weekend that the Camels did not score six runs in the second inning.
In the top of the third, Collins singled into left field for a leadoff knock and then Hrica followed suit by doubling down the left-field line, putting a pair of Camels in scoring position for Matthew Barefoot, Campbell's RBI leader.
With no outs, Barefoot drove in his 29th run of the season on an RBI groundout to score Collins from third. Gimenez singled off the shortstop's glove, which put him and Hrica on the corners for Wolf.
With a 0-1 count, head coach Justin Haire called for a hit and run. Gimenez dashed towards second base, forcing the second baseman to break towards the bag. Wolf grounded the ball where the second baseman would have been and the ball rolled all the way to the right-center field fence for a two-run triple, the junior's first three-bagger as a Fighting Camel.
With a 4-0 lead, Campbell stater Ryan Chasse got the first two outs of the bottom half of the third on just three pitches. His fourth pitch was met by Justin Kunz, who sent the ball over the right-field fence for his Big South-leading sixth home run in conference play.
The Bulldogs scored one run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings to trim Campbell's lead to one, 4-3. In the fourth, Heintzman entered with runners on the corners and one out on the board. He allowed an RBI single up the middle but on the following pitch got a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Heintzman returned to pitch the fifth as Gardner-Webb's Davis Balentine led off the inning with a double into the right-field gap. He advanced to third on an error and then scored on an RBI groundout by Ben LaSpaluto.
Campbell ballooned its lead to eight, 11-3, by posting a seven-spot in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded, and after falling behind 1-2, Collins battled back to work a walk, which pushed home Packard to put Campbell ahead by two, 5-3.
Hrica stepped into the batter's box with the bases loaded and sent a 1-0 pitch over the right-field fence for a grand slam, Campbell's third of the season. Gimenez ripped a two-out double down the right-field line to keep the inning going before Wolf doubled him in. Wolf advanced to third on Packard's single into right field and then scored the seventh run of the frame on an error by the right fielder.
Three different Campbell arms – Phil Simpson, Wyatt Tyson and Skracic – pitched the final three innings, each dealing scoreless frames. Simpson sat the Bulldogs down in order and collected a strikeout in the seventh, while Tyson allowed a one-out walk in the eighth, but got a batter looking and a fielder's choice to end the frame unscatched.
In the bottom of the ninth, the entire Campbell bench rose to the top of the dugout railing as Skracic trotted out from the bullpen to make his Campbell debut on the mound. He allowed a pair of singles but sat two Bulldogs down on strikes and dealt a groundout to get the final three outs, securing Campbell's fourth Big South series win.
With the win, Campbell moved its record to 20-11 overall and 10-2 in Big South play, to pad its first-place lead in the conference standings. Out of the 18 Division I baseball programs in the state of North Carolina, Campbell joined No. 1 N.C. State (29-4), No. 9 North Carolina (23-9), No. 11 ECU (23-7) and UNC Greensboro (20-10) as the fifth Tar Heel State program to reach the 20-win plateau so far this season.
The Fighting Camels have two in-state foes awaiting them for a pair of midweek contests later this week. Campbell travels to Elon on Tuesday, April 9, to face the Elon Phoenix before hosting the UNCW Seahawks the following day at Jim Perry Stadium. Both games have first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
