BUIES CREEK — The Campbell pitching staff held Radford to three hits and four walks with five strikeouts to send the Camels to a series-clinching 7-0 win over the Highlanders on Sunday afternoon at Jim Perry Stadium.
The Camels are 23-13 overall and 12-3 in the Big South Conference going into a nonconference game at UNC Greensboro on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Sunday starter Ryan Chasse earned his fifth victory of the season, his third in league play, to move his record to 5-1, which is the best mark among league rookies. He allowed no runs on two hits, which were both bunt singles, while issuing three walks in his seven innings of work. The Middle Creek High School product struck out three.
Chasse sat down eight straight during a stretch from the fifth through seventh innings. He left the game with two on and no outs in the top of the eighth, giving way to senior lefty Phil Simpson, who dealt a flyout, looking strikeout and groundout to place another zero on the board.
Redshirt-junior Joey Skracic, who made his Campbell debut last weekend at Gardner-Webb, trotted out from the bullpen to pitch the top of the ninth for his first appearance at Jim Perry Stadium. The Bakersfield, Calif., native got the final out on a strikeout to finish his second game in as many outings this season.
Chasse, Simpson and Skracic faced 33 combined batters, yet the trio held the Highlanders to just seven baserunners on three hits and four walks.
Cole Dunn started for Radford and was charged with the loss after allowing three hits and three runs in three innings. The right-hander dropped to 1-2 on the year.
Both Collin Wolf and Tyler Anshaw went 2-for-3 at the plate, earning their 16th and seventh multi-hit games of the season, respectively. Wolf scored three of Campbell’s seven runs, while Anshaw drove in one. Six different Campbell bats finished with an RBI in the win.
Zach Minnick had Campbell’s other extra-base hit with an RBI double in the fourth. Koby Collins, Luis Gimenez and A.J. Hrica each collected a base hit as Campbell recorded eight hits on the day.
The Camels posted the first run of the ballgame on Anshaw’s RBI single in the bottom of the second. The senior pushed across Wolf, who got the inning started with a one-out double down the left-field line, his sixth double of the season.
On Saturday, Michael Horrell went eight innings with four strikeouts and no walks to lead the Camels to a 6-2 win, evening the series at 1-1.
Horrell held the Highlanders to just two earned runs on six hits to move his Big South record to 5-0 and his overall record to 6-1.
Radford starter Derek Domecq suffered the loss, going 2.2 innings while allowing three runs (two earned) on a hit and three walks.
The Camels had a trio of two-hit performances, one each by Grant Harris, AJ Hrica and Collin Wolf. Harris and Hrica paired their base hits with doubles, while Wolf had a two-run single in the bottom of the third and a leadoff single in the fifth for his 15th multi-hit game this season.
Matthew Barefoot (Midway), Luis Gimenez and Spencer Packard each collected base hits against Radford pitching, rounding out Campbell’s nine hits on the night. Gimenez also walked twice, reaching base safely in three of his four at-bats.
Campbell jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the third. Harris kept Campbell’s half of the third going with a two-out, four-pitch walk before Gimenez followed with a five-pitch walk. Packard was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Wolf, who drove in Harris and Gimenez with a single up the middle. Koby Collins followed Wolf by lining a 0-1 pitch into left field, and the ball was dropped by the left fielder, which allowing Packard to score from third.
Radford responded with two runs in the top of fourth on a two-run home run from J.D. Mundy, trimming Campbell’s lead to one, 3-2; however, the Camels scored their final three runs in the bottom of the fourth to pull away with the 6-2 win.
Marcus Skundrich led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk and then two batters later, Harris doubled down the right-field line, putting a pair of Camels in scoring position for Gimenez with two away. Gimenez reached on an infield single to the shortstop, which drove in Skundrich from third.
With Harris at third, Gimenez also moved into scoring position on his second stolen base of the night. Packard drove in the pair with a two-run single up the middle, but he was caught in between first and second, ending the frame.
Following the two-run fourth, Horrell pitched the next four innings. In the fifth, he got out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam with an infield fly and flyout to center field. The senior right-hander allowed just two hits over his final three frames, making way for fellow classmate Tyson Messer (Harnett Central) to close out the game in the top of the ninth.
Messer struck out the side in order to secure the win and finish his sixth game of 2019.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)