BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Camels bounced back from Friday's loss with two wins over Elon Saturday afternoon at Jim Perry Stadium to win the series. The first game was decided by an 11-6 score, and Jake Murray led the way to a 6-0 shutout in the second game.
 
The Camels moved to 22-28 and 13-11 in CAA play. The Phoenix now sit at 24-27 overall and 13-11 in conference play as well, with Campbell holding the tiebreaker due to winning the series.
 
Joe Simpson had a great day at the plate to lead the Camels. He was 7-8 with a walk and HBP and scored three runs across both games.
 
Game 1
Campbell's offense came alive in the first game of the doubleheader, overcoming a five-run first inning from Elon. Each starter, Mason Smith and Nolan Straniero, pitched 3.0 innings, but Straniero faced two batters in the fourth that became the go-ahead runs, giving him the loss and a 4-2 record on the year.
 
Smith secured two quick outs in the first inning, then Alex Duffey, Will Vergantino and Kenny Mallory Jr. hit three consecutive RBI singles to bring in three runs. Tank Yaghoubi and Jake Hajdu also had RBI singles in the first frame to build the 5-0 lead.
 
Campbell answered with one run in the bottom of the first, an RBI single from Joey Morton to score Simpson. Elon responded with a Mallory Jr. sac fly in the second to push the lead back to five.
 
Andrew Keller hit his third home run of the season in the second inning, a two-run shot to cut the lead to three. The Camels went on to tie the game in the third inning with back-to-back home runs from Charlie Meglio and Andrew Schuldt.
 
With the game tied at six, David Rossow (5-3) took the mound for the Camels, and he threw 4.1 innings of one-hit ball with three walks and four strikeouts to quiet the Phoenix offense.
 
A three-run homer from Jonah Oster in the fourth gave the Camels their first lead of the game, 9-6. A sac fly from Meglio in the sixth and a solo home run from Morton in the eighth were the final two insurance runs.
 
Oster's home run in the fourth was on the first pitch thrown by reliever Hank Krift. He went on to pitch 4.0 innings, and Owen Winebarger pitched the eighth inning as the final Elon pitcher of the game.
 
Jett Music pitched the final 1.2 innings for Campbell. He allowed no hits and no walks and struck out two batters, facing the minimum five opponents.  
 
Game 2
Murray was the story of the second game, going 7.0 innings with three hits, no runs, two walks and nine strikeouts. He now sits at 4-2 on the year. His counterpart, Declan Lavelle, threw six innings for the Phoenix. He had seven strikeouts of his own but allowed five runs on six hits to earn the loss (3-5).
 
The Camels struck quickly with two runs in the first inning. Simpson and Dalen Thompson led off the home half of the frame with back-to-back doubles for the first run, then Thompson advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. From third, he scored on a sac fly from Morton.
 
Jackson Thompson provided the third run with an RBI single through the right side to score Schuldt.
 
The defense provided the help the pitching staff needed, recording double plays in the fourth and eighth innings.
 
Hudson Narke and Cade Mustard provided the bullpen relief for Elon, Narke in the seventh and Mustard in the eighth.
 
Campbell added two more runs in the seventh on an RBI double down the left field line from Simpson to score J. Thompson, then Lukas Schramm scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat.
 
Lleyton Grubich came out of the bullpen to replace Murray, and he pitched the final 2.0 innings. He allowed one hit and one walk, but struck out two batters to complete the shutout.
 
J. Thompson provided the final run of the game in the eighth inning with a single to shallow center field to score pinch runner Davis Albert from second base.
 
UP NEXT
The Camels travel to Greenville to face East Carolina in their final midweek of the season this Tuesday. The game will begin at 6:00 and be streamed on ESPN+.
 
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