MOBILE, Ala. — Cam Cowan tied a Campbell single-game record with 15 strikeouts in his Fighting Camel debut, but South Alabama's Hunter Stokes hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to lift the 23rd-ranked Jaguars past Campbell, 1-0, in the 2020 season opener for both teams Friday night at Stanky Field.
Cowan (0-1), a transfer from Kirkwood Community College, needed just 94 pitches in 8.1 innings to join Heath Bowers (Mar. 6, 2015, vs. Bowling Green) as one of two Fighting Camels to record 15 strikeouts in a single game, striking out the side twice, once in the first inning and again in the eighth frame.
The Ankeny, Iowa, native did not allow a base hit until the bottom of the seventh, which was a one-out bunt single. Across the 28 batters he faced, Cowan allowed just three base runners until the game-winning home run from Stokes. The first three base runners came by way of one walk and two singles.
South Alabama reliever Tyler Lehrmann (1-0) earned the win, striking out eight across the final four innings; he allowed just one hit but did issue three walks. Lehrmann relieved USA's top starter Drake Nightengale, who needed 88 pitches to last five innings against the Camels, allowing three hits, two walks and one hit by pitch; he also struck out eight.
The Campbell offense was limited to four hits in the season opener, with Waldy Arias, Matthew Christian, Zach Williams and Collin Wolf each recording a single. Arias reached base safely in three of his four at-bats, working a hit by pitch and a walk as the Campbell lead-off batter.
Campbell threatened in the top of the fourth with two outs after Williams, a Bakersfield College transfer, reached on a groundball through the left side for his first base hit as a Camel. Christian, a native of Opelika, Ala., followed Williams with an infield single, but Grant Harris lined out to the right fielder in right-center field to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, South Alabama's nine-hole hitter Reid Powers became the first Jaguar to record a base hit against Cowan, reaching on a one-out bunt single down the third-base line. Powers did advance to third but was left stranded as Cowan worked a pair of groundouts to get out of the sixth unscathed.
In the top of the ninth, Marcus Skundrich reached on a two-out hit by pitch, as Koby Collins was called on to pinch-hit for A.J. Hrica; however, Collins went down on strikes, sending Cowan to the mound again with a 0-0 score.
Cowan was met by Powers again in the bottom of the ninth, but this time sat the USA catcher down on strikes. Stokes, the Jaguar lead-off batter, lifted an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall, earning No. 23 South Alabama the 1-0 victory on Opening Day.
With rain in the forecast for Sunday, Feb. 16, the Fighting Camels and Jaguars will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 15, with Game 2 of the weekend series scheduled for a 3 p.m. (2 p.m. CST) first pitch. The series finale is set to begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.
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