MOBILE, Ala. — Campbell baseball earned a split of a doubleheader at No. 23 South Alabama, falling in the first game of the twinbill, 12-10, but winning the series finale, 7-3.
With the win, the Fighting Camels earned their first victory of the 2020 season, moving to 1-2 on the year, while the 23rd-ranked Jaguars dropped to 2-1 in this early season.
GAME ONE – No. 23 South Alabama 12, Campbell 10
Waldy Arias batted 3-for-4 with a trio of singles, including a go-ahead, two-run base hit in the top of the eighth, but South Alabama pulled away late with four unanswered runs in the bottom of the eighth to take Game 2 of the weekend series, 12-10.
Bakersfield College transfer Zach Williams went 1-for-4 and hit the first Campbell home run of 2020, launching a grand slam in the top of seventh, which tied the game at eight apiece. He finished the night with five runs batted in.
A.J. Hrica was the second Camel to log a multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored, while C.J. Peechakta, a transfer from Northampton Community College, joined Williams as the second Camel to record an extra-base hit with a pinch-hit double in the eighth.
Two South Alabama bats – Ethan Wilson and Reid Powers – hit home runs in the win, with Wilson's three-run long ball being his lone hit of the night while Powers finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI.
Both teams used seven pitchers in a game that last nearly four hours. Landry Moore (0-1) was charged with the loss, surrendering three runs on two walks and a hit by pitch; he struck out one batter. South Alabama's Andy Arguelles (1-0) collected the win, tossing 0.2 scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout.
In the bottom of the first, Santi Montiel scored the first run of the ballgame, hitting a double into the right-field gap and later scoring on an RBI groundout from Wilson. Campbell starter Logan Heintzman got out of the inning, sitting the next batter down on strikes.
In the top of third, Campbell pieced together three runs on two singles, a walk, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt, giving Heintzman a 3-1 lead to work with in the bottom of the third; however, South Alabama responded with two runs on a trio of no-out singles and a sacrifice fly, tying the score at three apiece.
Campbell retook the lead, 4-3, in the top of the fourth, loading the bases after Ryan Parquette led off the inning with a walk, Hrica singled, and then Arias drew a walk. The next batter, Collin Wolf, grounded into a double play, but it allowed Parquette to score the go-ahead run from third base.
South Alabama went ahead 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth on a three-run home run from Wilson. The Jaguars doubled their lead, 8-4, in the sixth on another home run, this time a two-run shot from Ethan Powers.
In the top of the seventh, the first three Camels reached, loading the bases for Williams, who lifted a 3-1 pitch over the left-center field wall for a grand slam, tying the score at eight apiece.
Peechatka pinch-hit to lead off the eighth and jumped on the first pitch he saw for a stand-up double down the left-field line. Campbell rookie Lawson Harrill was called upon to pinch run for Peechatka as he and Hrica, who reached on a walk, executed a double steal with Arias at the plate.
Arias delivered his third hit of the day by way of a two-run single up the middle, scoring Hrica and Harrill and pushing the Camels back ahead by two, 10-8.
The back-and-forth affair continued into the bottom of the eighth as South Alabama scored four runs on five walks and a hit by pitch from three different Campbell pitchers.
Cruz Aranda and Koby Collins walked to begin Campbell's last half of the game, but a strikeout, a fielder's choice and a popout secured the 2-0 series lead for South Alabama.
GAME TWO – Campbell 7, No. 23 South Alabama 3
Kevin Westlake went the first five innings and struck out a career-high seven batters as the Fighting Camels defeated No. 23 South Alabama 7-2 in the series finale, earning Campbell its first victory of the 2020 season
Westlake (1-0) collected the win, limiting the Jaguars to two runs on two hits in the first five innings of the game. The senior lefty from Greensboro, N.C., struck out a career-best seven batters while issuing four walks.
Senior right-hander Jack Yusko went the final 1.2 innings, not allowing a run while striking out one. Brendan Wright, a redshirt freshman righty, threw 2.1 frames in his Fighting Camel debut. The Holly Springs, N.C., native retired seven of the 10 batters he faced, striking out two of them.
Matthew Christian, a native of Opelika, Ala., hit his first long ball of the season with a go-ahead, two-run dinger in the top of the fourth, while Connor Denning, a transfer from Mesa Community College, batted 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and one run scored.
Campbell backstop Marcus Skundrich went 3-for-5 in the series finale, collecting a trio of singles for his first three-hit performance as a Camel. He also scored three runs and recorded a stolen base.
Collin Wolf, who tied for the team lead in RBI a season ago, drove in three runs in the win, while batting 3-for-5 with a walk. A.J. Hrica also had a multi-hit outing with a 2-for-4 performance; he finished the evening's doubleheader 4-for-8 at the plate.
Much like first game of the twinbill, South Alabama again scored in the bottom of the first, pushing one run across by way of an RBI groundout from Michael Sandle.
The first five Fighting Camels reached in the top of the fourth and all five scored as Campbell put up a five-spot in the inning. Connor Denning led off the attack with a single up the middle before Christian gave Campbell the lead with his two-run long ball over the left-field wall.
C.J. Peechatka kept the offense going with a hit by pitch before moving over to third base on a single by Skundrich and then scoring on an RBI single from Hrica. Skundrich scored the fourth run when Wolf executed a perfectly-placed squeeze bunt down the first-base line and Hrica came across on a balk.
Westlake did settle in after the one run in the first, retiring eight of the next nine batters he faced until Sandle led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, coming around to score USA's second run on another RBI groundout, this time from Bennett Shell.
With two gone in the top of the sixth, Skundrich singled, Hrica walked and Arias was hit by pitch to load the bases for Collin Wolf, who drew a four-pitch walk, extending Campbell's lead back to four, 6-2.
Campbell scored its seventh run in the seventh on an RBI single by Wolf that plated Skundrich. South Alabama did respond with a run in the bottom of the eighth on its own RBI single, cutting the Campbell lead to four, 7-3, but Yusko tossed a scoreless ninth, clinching Campbell's first win of the 2020 campaign.
Up Next for the Camels
The Camels return to the Old North State to host in-state rival ECU on Wednesday, Feb. 19, with a 5 p.m. first pitch inside Jim Perry Stadium. Campbell Athletics will distribute free rally towels to a select number of Fighting Camel fans for the home opener.
That same weekend, Feb. 21-23, the Fighting Camels will host the Campbell Invitational with Purdue, Villanova and Maine traveling to Buies Creek.
Campbell will face all three opponents for the first time in program history, while the Purdue-Campbell game on Friday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m., will pit Haire and the Camels against former Campbell head coach Greg Goff (2008-14) and former assistant coach Chris Marx (2015-19), who both enter their first seasons in their current roles at Purdue.
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