Starkville, Miss. – Campbell (37-17) advanced to its second consecutive regional final with a 19-10 win over VCU Sunday night at Dudy Noble Field. Campbell dropped the regional opener to VCU 19-4, but returned the favor in the rematch to move on to face Mississippi State in the regional final tomorrow at noon ET / 11 a.m. CT.
After setting a program tournament-record with 16 runs yesterday, the Camels again reset the mark with a 19-run outburst against the Rams. Campbell showed plenty of patience at the plate and earned 14 walks on the night, the most for the Camels in a game since at least 2006.
In addition to the walks, the Camels were the beneficiaries of three VCU errors that led to seven unearned runs. Campbell's offense has been a tough out all season, but none more than tonight as the Camels scored 12 of their 19 runs with two outs on the night.
Campbell found itself in a hole early, falling behind 4-0 after one inning. But in a game that featured four lead changes, the game was far from over. Campbell bounced back to with a five-spot in the third thanks to a pair of home runs from Neto and Harris in the inning.
After allowing a five-spot in the sixth inning on a pair of VCU home runs, the Camels answered right back with five of their own in the bottom of the frame. After loading the bases with two outs, VCU reliever Tyler Davis issued three straight run-scoring walks to ignite the rally and put the Camels up 12-10.
It was Camels over the final few innings, as they scored 12 unanswered to close the game across the sixth to eighth innings.
Seven different Camels had multi-RBI games as Campbell scored its third most runs in a game this season.
Connor Denning had three RBI, as did the 8-9 hitters in the order,
Marcus Skundrich and
Mason De La Cruz. Matt Christian paced the team by reaching five times on three hits and a pair of walks, coming around to score four times.
The last four spots in the order, (Christian, Harris, Skundrich, De La Cruz) were ultra-productive, combining for seven hits, 10 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Jonathan Beymer started on the mound in his first appearance since April 3 and lasted 1.2 innings.
Kevin Westlake pitched valuable innings, going 4.0 IP and matching a season-high with six strikeouts.
Ty Cummings earned the win, going the last 3.1 scoreless allowing just two hits and striking out three.
Campbell will have a quick turnaround, facing top-seeded Mississippi State less than 12 hours after the final out was recorded, at noon ET / 11 CT. Coming out of the loser's bracket, the Camels will have to beat MSU twice tomorrow to advance to the Super Regional. The winner of the Starkville Regional will face Notre Dame, the winners of the South Bend Regional.
Tomorrow's ballgame is slated to be broadcast on ESPN3.
