Starkville, Miss. – Campbell's season came to an end following a 6-5 loss to No. 7 Mississippi State Monday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field. The Camels went toe-to-toe with the regional host and left the tying run on third in the ninth inning.
The loss ends Campbell's season at 37-18, tied for the fourth-most wins in program history. Campbell's 2-2 regional record this year puts the Camels at 5-10 all-time in regional play and have reached the regional finals in each of the past two seasons.
Thomas Harrington dazzled on short rest, tossing the final 5.0 innings allowing just four hits and one run while striking out three to keep the Camels within striking distance. The freshman got the nod as the starter on Friday night against VCU and got knocked around, but was up to the task today in front of a crowd of 8,251, the largest crowd ever for a Campbell game.
The only blemish in Harrington's line was a two-out solo home run in the fourth from Logan Tanner, and proved to be the last run the Bulldogs would score.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first,
Spencer Packard answered with a three-run shot in the bottom of the frame to put the Camels ahead 3-2 and quiet crowd on hand. The blast was Packard's 11
th of the year and Campbell's 72
nd, the third most in a single season in program history.
Campbell was in striking distance and poised to take the lead, but had a tough stretch from bottom third to top four. Trailing 4-3 in the third, the Camels loaded the bases with nobody out. But MSU reliever Houston Harding picked up three straight strikeouts to end the threat without a run. Campbell then allowed an unearned run in the fourth following what looked to be an inning-ending double play, but an E3 at the end allowed the inning to stay alive and eventually pushed across another run.
As they proved over and over this season, the Camel bats are never out of a ballgame. Trailing 6-3,
Marcus Skundrich ripped a two-run single down the left-field line to cut the lead to just one in the sixth.
MSU turned to all-SEC closer Landon Sims in the seventh and he ultimately closed the door, but not without a scare.
Lawson Harrill put the first pitch of the ninth off the wall in left-center for a leadoff double and advanced to third on a groundout. With two-outs and the tying run 90-feet away,
Zach Neto hit one on the nose right at the shortstop who handled the hot shot and retired Neto routinely to end it.
The future for the Camels is bright after three underclassmen pitchers, including two true freshman, kept a high-powered SEC offense at bay for much of the game.
Cade Boxrucker got the start and went 3.1 innings and allowed five runs, just three earned.
Ryan Chasse tossed 0.2 without a run charged to him.
Campbell's middle infielders,
Zach Neto and
Collin Wolf, were each tabbed to the Starkville Regional all-tournament team. Neto hit .313 with two home runs on the week, while Wolf hit .389 and led the team with seven total hits and a perfect fielding 1.000 fielding percentage.
Skundrich had a great tournament at the plate as well, posting a team-high .400 average with five RBI on the week.
This was the final outing for 15 Campbell seniors, a handful of which are "COVID seniors" and elected another year of eligibility following the shortened season last year. The senior class was the first in Campbell history to play in three regionals (Athens, Greenville, Starkville), with some seniors' careers stretching across five seasons and 138 wins.
