Durham, N.C. – Campbell surrendered its most hits and tied its most runs allowed of the season in a 14-7 loss to Duke Tuesday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
With the loss, Campbell moves to 16-10 on the year while Duke improves to 14-15.
Eight Campbell pitchers combined to allow 15 hits across eight innings, seven of those hits being extra-base hits. The Campbell bats stayed hot in their own right, scattering 12 hits and seven runs on the evening, each the most in a loss this year.
Campbell opened the scoring in the top of the third thanks to an RBI single from
Zach Neto. The Camels looked poised for a big inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, but ran themselves into some trouble as one runner was picked off and another caught stealing.
Spencer Packard still delivered a two-out RBI single to push the lead to 2-0 by the end of the frame.
It took Duke just two batters to even the score after a leadoff walk and two-run blast from RJ Schreck in the bottom of the third.
Duke broke the game open with an eight-run fourth inning. The Blue Devils posted nine hits in the inning, five going for extra bases to extend the lead to 10-2.
The Camels got three runs back in the sixth thanks to back-to-back doubles from
Connor Denning and Neto.
Duke countered with another three runs of their own in the sixth to push the lead back to nine at 14-5.
Campbell added two more in the ninth on a
Zach Williams two-run shot, his second of the year, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Camels fell 14-7.
Fred Sisco got the nod as the starter, making the just second start of his career. His previous start came on the same field last season against Duke. Sisco ultimately served as an opener and pitched just one inning.
Cameron O'Brien was tagged with the loss after surrendering three runs in the fourth inning. Duke's Nick Conte earned the win.
It was a busy box score as 24 different Camels saw time on the field, eight on the mound and 17 with a plate appearance. Neto paced the Camels at the plate with two hits and three RBIs, while Packard and Harrill each had multi-hit games as well.
Campbell's next action will be Friday night at 5 p.m. at Gardner-Webb. This will be the second series of the season against the Runnin' Bulldogs. Campbell took the first series 2-1 with a Friday night loss and sweeping Saturday's doubleheader.
