Buies Creek – Matthew Barefoot’s two run go-ahead double in the top of the ninth lifted Campbell to a 4-2 road win over North Carolina Central Tuesday night at Durham Athletic Park.
The Camels moved to 17-20 on the season, snapping a five game losing streak. NCCU falls to 16-22 overall.
With a 2-2 game entering the ninth inning, a hit by pitch and a walk put two Camels on with none out. After back to back strikeouts, Barefoot lined a 1-2 pitch into the left-center gap, scoring two to give Campbell the 4-2 lead.
Tyson Messer (4-1) picked up the win in relief, pitching a perfect eighth with two strikeouts. Cole Hallum tossed the ninth for his third save of the season, striking out one.
Jake McCort (0-2) took the loss, allowing two runs with a walk in 2/3 of an inning.
Drew Butler gave Campbell the early 1-0 lead in the first, scoring on a wild pitch after drawing the first of three CU walks in the frame before Evan Holland answered for the Eagles in the bottom of the inning with a RBI single.
Ben Calvano led off the fourth with a solo home run, his first of the season, pushing Campbell back in front 2-1.
The Camels led 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when Corey Joyce tied it up for the Eagles with a RBI single, scoring Carter Williams, who led off the inning with a double.
Barefoot was 1-for-4 with the two run double, while Calvano scored twice, going 1-for-3.
Joyce paced NCCU at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a RBI.
Campbell starter Michael Horrell tossed five innings with a run on three hits, four strikeouts and a walk.
Wyatt Tyson also worked a perfect seventh, fanning two, while Erik Dowse surrendered a run on two hits with a walk in an inning of work.
Eagle pitching tallied 13 strikeouts in the loss led by Nick Caregnato’s seven K’s. The righthander allowed an unearned run on three hits with two walks in five innings of relief. NCCU starter Landon Fraley allowed a run with three strikeouts and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.
Campbell returns to Jim Perry Stadium this weekend, hosting UNC Asheville in a Big South series, April 21-23.
