Camels score in bottom of ninth to top No. 9 ECU, 7-6

by Dunn Area Sports Staff | Feb 21, 2019 | Campbell, News & Features

Matthew Barefoot slides home with the game-winning run.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)

BUIES CREEK — An RBI single by Luis Gimenez in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Campbell to a 7-6 walk-off win over No. 9 ECU on Wednesday evening at Jim Perry Stadium.

The Camels (2-2) never trailed in their home opener, but withstood a pair of 3-run innings by the Pirates (3-1), who tied the score at 6 in the top of the ninth.

With one away in the bottom of the ninth, former Midway standout Matthew Barefoot (1-for-3, 2 RBI) reached on an infield single before A.J. Hrica singled into center field. One batter later, Gimenez delivered the game-winning base hit into right field, scoring Barefoot from second base.

ECU scored six runs in the final two innings on four hits after the Campbell pitching staff held the Pirates to no runs and two hits in the previous seven innings. Seven Camels pitched in the win and combined to strike out 11 Pirates, with each CU pitcher recording at least one whiff.

Junior right-hander Seth Johnson, a transfer from Louisburg College, got the starting nod against ECU, fanning five batters over four innings. He allowed just one hit and two walks. Junior righty Wyatt Tyson (1-1) was credited with the win.

Barefoot’s sacrifice fly in the third gave the Camels a 1-0 lead before junior infielder Collin Wolf (1-for-3, RBI, walk) tacked on another run with an one-out single in the fifth. Campbell added two more runs in the seventh on two ECU errors, heading into the eighth with a 4-0 lead.

ECU’s Bryson Worrell’s three-run home run in the eighth trimmed Campbell’s advantage to 4-3, but Campbell junior first basemen Matthew Christian launched his second career homer in the bottom half, a 2-run line drive shot to left field for a 6-3 CU advantage.

After coming to the mound in the eighth and leaving a runner stranded on third, Campbell closer Tyson Messer retook the mound in the ninth. The senior allowed three straight walks to load the bases. Tyson relieved and got a double play, putting the Camels one out away from the win, but allowing the Pirates to close within 6-4.

With a runner on third and two outs, Alec Burleson tied the game on the second pitch of the at-bat with a two-run homer to left center. Tyson worked out of the inning by way of a strikeout, keeping the game tied, which set up the win in the bottom of the ninth.

Campbell’s win over ECU is its first since March 10, 2015, when the Camels won in Greenville, 9-4. The walk-off victory is the first for CU since March 24, 2018, when 2018 graduate Christian Jones placed a walk-off bunt to score Gimenez for a 4-3 win over Gardner-Webb.

The Camels continue their eight-game home stand by welcoming the Georgetown Hoyas to Jim Perry Stadium for a three-game series this weekend. First pitch for Friday’s game is scheduled for 5 p.m.

(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)