LYNCHBURG, Va. – A grand slam by Campbell's Kyle Mehl in the bottom of the second inning doomed Gardner-Webb, as the No. 5 Runnin' Bulldogs fell to No. 1 Campbell in the 2018 Big South Conference Baseball Championship on Thursday afternoon.
With the loss, Gardner-Webb falls to 30-26 on the year, while Campbell improves to 33-23 overall.
GWU struggled at the plate with runners in scoring position, going just 2-for-13, while the Camels were able to put up a 6-for-15 performance in that category.
Gardner-Webb jumped to an immediate 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out,
Mickey Dugan reached on an infield single, and would later score on a base knock to left field by
Eric Jones.
The Camels seized control of the contest in the bottom of the fourth on Mehl's grand slam over the left field fence to take a 4-1 lead.
Campbell expanded its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a RBI double to deep center field by Matthew Barefoot.
The 'Dogs got one run back in the seventh inning as a wild pitch by Campbell pitcher Wes Noble allowed
Mason Fox, who led off the frame with a base hit up the middle, to score.
The Camels responded in the bottom half of the inning, scoring once on a RBI single through the right side by Ty Babin to set the score at 6-2.
GWU scored one run in the top of the eighth as
Justin Kunz belted a double down the left field line to plate
Chris Clary, who reached via a walk earlier in the frame, bringing the 'Dogs back within three runs at 6-3.
Campbell once again answered in the bottom half of the inning, this time scoring two runs on a pair of RBI singles from Jeff Hahs and Tyler Anshaw to set the score at 8-3.
Landon Mitchell (4-5) took the loss for Gardner-Webb, allowing three earned runs on five base hits with one strikeout in 2.2 innings of work.
Noah Davis tossed one inning in relief, giving up one run on a pair of hits, and
Isaac Campbell hurled the final 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on six base hits with three strikeouts.
Noble (7-6) earned the win for Campbell, working 6.2 innings while allowing a pair of runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts. Logan Bender tossed 1.1 innings, giving up one run one hit while fanning a pair of batters, and Andrew Witczak worked the final frame, allowing no runners to reach with one strikeout.
GWU collected ten base hits, with Kunz (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and
Luke Kaesmeyer (2-for-4, 2B) leading the offensive attack.
The Camels tallied 13 hits, with Anshaw (3-for-5, 2B, RBI) pacing the team at the plate.
Gardner-Webb will be back in action later today in an elimination game against Winthrop, a rematch of yesterday's opening round bout. The first pitch will take place at approximately 8:00 pm, 45 minutes after the conclusion of the elimination game between Liberty and Radford.
