MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Joe Simpson's walk-off home run lifted No. 3 Campbell over No. 6 Elon, 10-9, in the first round of the CAA Baseball Championship Wednesday evening at the Ballpark at Patriots Point.
 
Simpson launched the second pitch of his leadoff at-bat of the ninth inning over the wall in left field off Elon pitcher Ryan Sprock, who had just entered the game. Sprock's record now sits at 1-2.
 
The Camels will now face off against the No. 2 seed, UNCW, Thursday evening beginning at 7:00.
 
Simpson was one of five Campbell batters to have two RBI, as the Camels (25-29) came out on top of a back-and-forth affair with the Phoenix (24-31). The game saw three ties at 5-5, 7-7 and 9-9.
 
The Camels started Jake Murray on the mound, and he went 2.0+ innings. Jett Music got the win (2-2) throwing the final 1.1 innings and keeping the Phoenix off the board. Peyton Brown and Lleyton Grubich also saw time out of the bullpen. Brown pitched 3.2 innings and Grubich pitched 2.0.
 
The Phoenix jumped out in front with four runs in the first two innings. Alex Duffey scored the two in the first inning with a two RBI double. In the second inning, Will Vergantino advanced to third on a bunt from Jake Hajdu, then scored because of a Campbell error. Tank Yaghoubi hit an RBI groundout for the fourth run.
 
Campbell responded with three runs in the bottom of the second to close the gap. Jonah Oster led off the frame with a solo home run to center field. Later in the frame, Jackson Thompson brought a runner home on an RBI groundout, then Simpson brought one in with an infield single.
 
The teams exchanged one run apiece in the third inning. Elon scored with an RBI single by Vince Fattore, and Campbell answered with an RBI double by Oster.
 
Campbell evened the score in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Thompson, his third of the season.
 
A two RBI double from Charlie Meglio in the fifth inning gave the Camels their first lead of the game at 7-5.
 
Elon immediately answered with two runs of its own in the top of the sixth to even the score again, thanks to a two RBI double from Charlie Granatell.
 
Another immediate response followed in the bottom of the frame, as Dalen Thompson put the Camels up by two once again with a two-run homer to left center field.
 
The Phoenix tied the game at nine with one run in the seventh and one in the eighth inning. In the seventh, Vergantino scored on an RBI groundout by Jackson Alford. Vergantino was then the provider in the eighth inning, reaching on an error by the Campbell infield which would have ended the frame, allowing Sprock to score on the play.
 
Music entered the game after the error and struck out Fattore to strand two runners and preserve the tie.
 
The teams exchanged three up three down frames in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth innings before Simpson's walk-off knock.
 
UP NEXT
The Camels advanced to take on No. 2 UNCW, Thursday evening at Patriots Point. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. on FloCollege.
 
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