The Campbell baseball team dealt No. 8 N.C. State its first loss of the season, 7-4, on Wednesday before beating Ohio State, 7-2 in the All-American Classic at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville on Friday.
A blend of timely hitting, crafty baserunning and big strikeouts helped the Camels on Wednesday to their first top-10 win since 2019.
The win gives Campbell two in a row and moves the team to 3-6, while NC State dropped to 8-1. Ty Cummings, the nation’s leader in appearances, earned the win after throwing three and two-thirds shutout relief innings with four strikeouts. Starting shortstop Zach Neto was called upon in the ninth and earned the save, his first of the year.
The Wolfpack bats started early and carried the visitors to an early 3-0 lead following a trio of Campbell errors in the first inning with a bases-loaded hit batter and a wild pitch in the second inning.
Campbell’s bats finally got hot and answered with two runs in the bottom of the second on hits from Drake Pierson and Lawson Harrill.
The Camels took the lead for good with a three-run fifth inning. An attempted sacrifice bunt from Ty Babin resulted in a single and error to plate a run. Waldy Arias came through in the clutch with his first hit of the season, a two-run double to the left field corner to put the Camels up 5-3.
Babin was again in the mix on both insurance runs, lifting a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and an infield single that allowed Jarrod Belbin to score from second on a ball that never left the infield grass.
State made it interesting in the ninth. The Wolfpack loaded the bases with just one out, but Neto locked in and picked up back-to-back strikeouts to strand all three runners.
Campbell’s 10 hits were a season high, coming against eight different Wolfpack pitchers. Pierson led the way with a 3-for-3 night with two runs and an RBI. Babin and Belbin each had two hits, with Babin driving in two, both times driving in Belbin.
A crowd of 1,323 was on hand Wednesday, the third-largest crowd in program history. That is the second of the season to crack the all-time top five along with the ECU game on February 22.
Harrington shuts down Ohio State
Another strong start from Thomas Harrington set the tone and gave the offense time to break out in the middle innings to pull away on Friday.
The win pushed Campbell to 4-6 on the season while Ohio State dropped to 3-6. The win is the second of the week over a Power Five school, and the third in a row with Campbell wearing its all black jerseys.
Harrington shined again, this time tossing seven innings and fanning 11. The sophomore has now struck out at least nine in all three starts this season. He entered the night fifth in the nation in strikeouts. He retired the final 10 batters he faced and finished with a final line of four hits, one earned run and one walk in his second win.
Left-hander Jake Murray finished the game for the Camels and collected three strikeouts over the final two innings. His only blemish was a two-out solo home run in the ninth inning.
The Buckeyes got on the board in the top of the first on a first-and-third delayed steal.
Grant Knipp evened the score with a solo home run in the third, his first hit and home run of the season. Campbell added three more the following inning with a bases-loaded walk followed by a two-run single from pinch-hitter Tyler McPeak. The Camels scored for the third straight frame in the fifth on a Pierson RBI single.
The Campbell scoring was capped with two insurance runs in the eighth on an error and an RBI single from Connor Denning.
Ohio State’s starter, Isaiah Coupet, was tagged with the loss. He was the first of four Buckeye pitchers on the evening and lasted 3.2 innings while surrendering four runs.
The Camels were scheduled to return to Segra Stadium on Saturday to face Army at 5 p.m. Cade Kuehler was expected to take the mound for Campbell.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)