Campbellsville, Kentucky

It was a gorgeous afternoon in Campbellsville and it was the perfect setting for two top ten schools to lock horns.  The #10 Campbellsville University Tigers came in with an overall record of 31-8, and the Bulldogs of Union College were 37-7 before game time.  Both teams battled each other, each having big innings of their own, but in the end, #10 Campbellsville prevailed, winning the game 12-6.

The Tigers were the first to score.  Brian Chase (San Jose, California) singled with two outs in the bottom of the first and advanced to second on a bobble in the outfield.  Jimmy Voelker (Sacramento, California) followed suit and hit a soft liner into shallow centerfield to plate Chase, giving Campbellsville the 1-0 lead.

For the Tigers, Marc Wilson (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) got the start and came into the game with a 7-0 record.  Wilson held the Bulldogs scoreless until the third, when Union put up five runs.  A slew of hits and defensive blunders had Union send ten batters to the plate, giving Union a 5-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Campbellsville came to life.  Nick Bertolucci (Cupertino, California) ignited the fire with a perfectly executed drag bunt to lead off the inning.  Tyler Derby (San Jose, California) and Chris Curley (Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky) followed Bertolucci by drawing walks to load the bases with nobody out.  Brian Chase then came up and blooped a single to shallow right to plate one run, and the bases remained loaded.  Still with nobody out, Jimmy Voelker stepped in and laced the 0-0 offering into the left center gap, closing the gap to just one.  Junior Alex Ponich (British Columbia, Canada) then hit a soft ground ball to second, scoring the run and tying the game.  Zach Townsend (Fremont, California) then continued the rally, reaching on an infield single, once again giving Campbellsville the lead.  The Tigers would never look back.  Nick Bertolucci capped the inning with an opposite field homerun that sliced just inside the left field foul pole.  It was Bertolucci's third homer of the season.  The Tigers finished the inning, scoring eight runs and led the game 9-5.

Bryan Fuller (Lewisburg, Kentucky) was summoned out of the Tiger Bullpen and pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, picking up his fourth win of the season.  Spencer Frantz (Rogue River, Oregon) pitched the final two innings of the game.  The Tigers would add three more before the contest was over, winning the game by the final of 12-6.    Campbellsville now sits with a record of 32-8.

On the day, the Campbellsville offense was led by Nick Bertolucci, who went 4 for 4 with his third homer of the year.  He had 3 RBI on the day and scored two runs.  Brian Chase finished the day going 4 for 5, scoring three times, and Jimmy Voelker also was 4 for 5, with 4 RBI.