STATESBORO, Ga. – The Campbell Fighting Camels put themselves back to the win column with a 10-7 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.

The Camels (7-3) found their hitting stroke, recording five home runs in the game and 12 total hits.

Campbell's first home run came from the lead-off spot, as Grant Knipp sent one 414 feet to left field in the first. It's the first lead-off home run for the Camels this season.

Georgia Southern (4-6) would score the next five runs, three of which came in the bottom of the first. The Eagles would then score one in the second and one in the third.

Campbell added two runs in the fourth with a two-run homer from Andrew Schuldt, the first of his career. He got the start behind the plate and had a strong defensive day as well, catching two Eagle baserunners who were attempting to steal second base.

The Camels opened it up with five hits and four runs in the sixth inning. Payton Howard began the inning with a home run to right center field. Lawson Harrill then drew a walk and forced a Georgia Southern pitching change.

Dalen Thompson sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in center field, giving the Camels a 6-5 lead. The home run was Thompson's first of his career, marking career-firsts for both he and Schuldt.

Thompson led the Camels at the plate, going 3-4 with three RBI, including a sacrifice bunt in the top of the ninth inning. Chandler Riley added a sacrifice fly to center field in the sixth to score Reed Stallman.

Campbell would not relinquish that lead, giving the win to Zach Sabers (2-0). Sabers went five innings and recorded five strikeouts. Davis Smith (1-1) was awarded the loss for Georgia Southern, who allowed the home run to Thompson.

Packy Bradley-Cooney came on in relief for Sabers in the sixth. He pitched 2.2 innings, giving up two hits and two runs, both of which were unearned and direct results of Campbell fielding errors in the eighth inning.

With two outs in the eighth, Knipp came on in relief and recorded the four-out save. He now has two saves to his name this season, previously doing so against East Carolina.                 

The Camels added two insurance runs in the ninth inning. Knipp began the inning with a double in left field. Howard moved Knipp over with a flyout to right field. Harrill was then hit by a pitch.

With runners at the corners, Thompson laid a sacrifice bunt down the first base line to score Knipp and advance Harrill to second. Harrill would then score on the next pitch, as Stallman hit an RBI single down the left field line.

Knipp would return to the mound in the ninth and record the final three outs. He forced the first two batters into groundouts before relinquishing two singles. The final out was a pop-up foul ball to Schuldt behind the plate.

UP NEXT

The rubber match between the Camels and Eagles is set for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Cooper Clark (1-0) gets the start for Campbell. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

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