GREENVILLE, S.C. — Campbell baseball scored in all nine innings except the second inning to earn a 13-3 victory over the Furman Paladins in the weekend series opener on Friday night at Latham Stadium. The win moved Campbell's record to 6-7, while Furman dropped to 6-8.
Koby Collins logged his first three-hit outing of the season with a 3-for-4 showing that included a solo home run, a pair of doubles and two walks. Cruz Aranda also earned his first multi-hit performance by finishing 2-for-3 with two singles and two hit by pitches; he reached in four of his five plate appearances.
Including Collins' home run and two doubles, six of Campbell's 12 hits were extra-base hits as Zach Williams had a three-run double, Spencer Packard hit a two-run dinger, and Collin Wolf had a solo home run.
Campbell's other five hits came from Waldy Arias, Matthew Christian, Zach Neto, and Marcus Skundrich, who each had singles. Five Camels – Aranda, Arias, Collins, Packard and Wolf – scored two runs in the win.
Cam Cowan (2-2) earned his second-straight win, scattering eight strikeouts in six innings while not walking a batter. He allowed five hits, but only two of them were extra-base hits.
Thomas Coggburn, Lawson Harrill, Cole Hart and Landry Moore went the final three innings. Coggburn and Harrill went one inning, while Hart and Moore combined to get the final three outs in the ninth. The five Campbell hurlers combined to strike out 12 batters.
The Camels had not hit a home run since Sunday, Feb. 23, against Maine, but Wolf ended the drought with a one-out solo dinger in the top of the first. The long ball was the senior's first of 2020 and the eighth of his two-year career at Campbell.
Arias got the top of the third inning started with a lead-off walk before advancing to second base on a groundout and later moving to third base on a flyout to right field, bringing Packard to the plate with two away. Packard scored himself and Arias when he ripped an 0-1 pitch over the right-center field fence for a two-run home run and an early 3-0 Campbell lead.
In the fourth inning, Skundrich hit a high fly ball to left field but the left fielder Sterling Turmon was unable to reel it in, allowing Skundrich to advance to third base. He scored one batter later when Aranda grounded a 1-1 pitch up the middle for an RBI single.
A single, a hit by pitch and a double by the first three Furman batters in the bottom of the fourth plated the first Paladin run of the game. However, Cowan stranded two runners in scoring position by dealing a groundout, a strikeout, and a flyout, holding the Paladins to just one run in the fourth.
Williams led off the fifth with a walk but was erased on a fielder's choice hit by Packard. Packard moved to third base when Collins laced a one-out double into the right-field gap. Christian, the next batter, popped out for the second out, but with Grant Harris in the box, a passed ball allowed Packard to score from third, moving CU's lead back to four, 5-1.
Both Aranda and Arias reached on back-to-back hit by pitches in the sixth before the pair executed a double steal with Wolf in the box. A couple of pitches later, Wolf scored Aranda on an RBI groundout to the second baseman.
Collins collected his second extra-base hit by leading off the seventh with a double down the left-field line. Christian followed him with a single into center field, placing runners on the corners. With two away, Aranda legged out a bunt single, scoring Collins, before Arias scored Christian with an RBI single up the middle.
Wolf kept the two-out rally going with a hit by pitch, loading the bases for Williams, who quickly cleared the bases with a three-run double into the left-field gap, pushing Campbell's lead to double-digits, 11-1.
Coggburn relieved Cowan following the seventh-inning stretch and picked up a strikeout with two walks in a scoreless frame.
Collins moved the lead to 12-1 with a lead-off solo home run in the top of the eighth before Harrill replaced Coggburn at the bottom of the inning. Harrill loaded the bases following an error and a couple of walks, but he dealt a groundout to place another zero on Furman's line score.
Campbell added another run in the top of the ninth on an A.J. Hrica RBI groundout that scored Neto. Hart appeared in the bottom half, struck out two batters, but allowed two earned runs on a hit and three walks before Moore was called out from the bullpen. Moore dealt a groundout to earn Campbell its sixth victory of 2020.
Up Next for the Camels
Campbell and Furman continue the weekend series with a 1 p.m. first pitch for Game 2 on Saturday, Mar. 7. The series finale is set for Sunday, Mar. 8, at 1 p.m.
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