ELON, N.C. — Campbell baseball scored 11 runs across the fifth through seventh innings to pull away from the Elon Phoenix and win 15-7 Tuesday night at Latham Park.
Jonathan Tyler (1-0) struck out nine batters across his four innings in relief to collect his first victory as a Fighting Camel. The junior transfer from Los Angeles Mission College retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced, sitting the Phoenix down in order three times.
Mason Daniels (2-3) was saddled with the loss, allowing five runs, two earned on seven hits in his 4.1 innings on the mound; he struck out four.
The first five batters in Campbell's lineup – Matthew Barefoot, Luis Gimenez, Collin Wolf, Spencer Packard and Tyler Anshaw – combined to go 12-for-22 (.545) at the plate.
Packard led the way with a 4-for-5 outing, his first four-hit performance as a Fighting Camel, pounding out two doubles. Wolf went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run and a pair of singles; he drove in five runs, good for his second game of the season with five RBI. Gimenez and Anshaw each had two-hit outings, and Barefoot and Ty Babin had one hit apiece as Campbell finished with double-digit hits (13) for the third consecutive game.
With one out in the top of the first, Gimenez lined a 3-2 pitch into the left-field alley for a stand-up double, his team-high 12th double this season. With Wolf at the plate, Gimenez advanced to second a wild pitch to later score on Wolf's RBI single to short.
Elon scored an unearned run in its half of the first to tie the score before the Camels retook the lead in the second. Babin was hit by a pitch before Hrica drew a walk, turning the lineup over to the top of the order with two outs on the board. Barefoot beat out an infield single to third, and Babin rounded third and slid in before the tag at home to give Campbell back the lead, 2-1.
In the bottom of the third, Westlake issued two walks to the first two batters and they both advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch with the Colonial Athletic Association's top hitter Joe Satterfield at the plate. Satterfield hit a two-run triple to give Elon back the lead, 3-2. The next batter scored Satterfield on an RBI single that ricocheted off Wolf's glove at third base.
After seeing the first batters reach to open the third, pitching coach Chris Marx called in Tyler to relieve Westlake. Tyler struck out the side to keep the score at 4-2 after three complete.
Barefoot got the top of the fifth starting with a deep fly ball into the right-center gap that was scored an error – he advanced all the way to third on the play. Just three pitches later, Gimenez drove in Barefoot with an RBI groundout, pulling the Camels within one, 4-3.
With the bases loaded, Cameron Witt was hit by a pitch to tie the score at four apiece. Campbell retook the lead, 6-4, on Babin's two-out, two-RBI double that pushed across Packard and Anshaw.
Barefoot again led off the top of the sixth and was hit by the first pitch of the inning. Gimenez followed with a single before, one batter later, Wolf launched a 0-1 pitch 368 feet over the left-field fence for a 3-RBI home run, pushing Campbell's lead to five, 9-4.
Tyler dealt a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the bottom of the fifth and the sixth, combining to get three strikeouts, two groundouts and a flyout.
In the top of the seventh, and with the bases loaded and Gimenez at the plate, Babin scored Campbell's tenth run of the ballgame on a wild pitch. Gimenez drew a walk to reload the bases before Wolf drove in AJ Hrica on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Head coach Justin Haire called for Campbell's stolen base leaders – Barefoot and Gimenez – to double-steal with no outs. The pair swiped third base and second base, respectively, and then scored on Packard's two-run double into the left-field gap. Barefoot (15) and Gimenez (12) have stolen 29 of CU's 54 swipes this season at a combined success rate of 85.3 percent.
Landry Moore entered in the bottom of the seventh with a 13-4 lead and got the first two outs before allowing a two-out single, which was the first base hit for Elon since the bottom of third. The Benson native dealt a 4-3 groundout to end the frame.
Campbell added two more runs in the top of the ninth on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to go ahead push their lead to double-digits, 15-4.
Thomas Coggburn pitched the final two innings and, despite allowing three runs, collected two strikeouts to finish his second game of the season.
The Fighting Camels have a quick turnaround as they host the UNCW Seahawks tomorrow at Jim Perry Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
