ATHENS, Tenn. – The 20th-ranked Campbellsville baseball team racked up 20 runs during its doubleheader sweep of No. 13 Tennessee Wesleyan University, 8-3 and 12-2, to run its winning streak to five games.
 
Matthew Valdez hit two of the team's five home runs on the day and drove in five runs. After hitting .250 at the plate in game one, the Tigers (6-4) hit .455 at the dish in the second game against the Bulldogs (6-8).
 
Campbellsville 8, Tennessee Wesleyan 3
 
The Tigers started the doubleheader with another first inning run and has outscored their opponents 6-0. After back-to-back singles from Ty Housden and Logan Roberts with one out, Tyler Deason drove in Housden with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
 
Campbellsville allowed its first, first inning run of the season after Dakota Phillips took Mikey Hooper deep to centerfield to tie the game at one with two outs in the first inning. The homer was Phillips' fifth of the season and just the Tigers second home run allowed as a pitching staff.
 
After the Bulldogs tacked on a run in the second inning to take a lead, the Campbellsville bats went quite. After the two hits in the first inning, the Tigers did not register a hit until the top of the fifth inning when Tyson Solis started the inning with a double to right field.
 
With two outs in the fifth inning, Valdez reached base on a wild throw from Aloysious Cruz and Solis scored from third base. Looking to expand its two-out rally, Campbellsville left runners on first and second base to end the top of the fifth inning.
 
However, a leadoff home run from Adrian Gonzalez in the bottom half of the fifth inning allowed the Bulldogs to regain a one-run lead. The double-play ball helped the Tigers throughout the first game as they recorded three double plays over the first five innings, which included an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
Campbellsville bounced back in the next half inning and recorded the first crooked number of the game with five runs in the top of the sixth inning on just two hits. Deason started the inning with a walk and after back-to-back putouts, Solis reached on a walk and Austin Peterson delivered a pinch-hit single to score Jalen Horton – who came into run for Deason.
 
With the bases loaded and two outs in the inning, Valdez broke open the game and delivered a grand slam to left field to put Campbellsville on top 7-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Marco Murillo gave the Tigers an extra insurance run with his first home run of the season with two outs in the seventh inning.
 
Hooper (1-1) threw 6-1/3 innings and picked up his first win of the season after allowing three runs on six hits. Justin Phillips ended the game and forced a double play – Campbellsville fourth of the game – to secure the 8-3 win for the Tigers.
 
Grant Lang (1-1) was tagged with loss after allowing four runs and three hits in one inning of work.
 
Campbellsville 12, Tennessee Wesleyan 2
 
Campbellsville's bats picked up where they left off to start the second game. After scoring in each of the first three innings, the Tigers jumped out to a commanding 9-0 lead.
 
Valdez notched his second home run of the day and fourth of the season with a leadoff home run to give Campbellsville its seventh, first inning run in 10 games this season.
 
The runs continued to come in the second inning, as the Tigers sent eight batters to the plate and scored four runs on four hits.
 
In the third inning, the long ball came up big again as Shane Stober hit his first home run of the season and Chris Taitague hit a three-run home run to push the Campbellsville lead to 9-0.
 
Tennessee Wesleyan tried to cut into the Tiger lead in the second and third innings, but Brandon Diaz got out of a pair of bases loaded situations.
 
After being held scoreless for the first five innings, the Bulldogs finally broke through with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tennessee Wesleyan tried to bring the game back within reach, but left the bases loaded for the third time in the game.
 
However, Campbellsville answered right back with three runs in the next half inning to grab a 12-2 lead. The Tigers used four hits in the top of the seventh to score their three runs where Stober, Solis and Montoya each drove in a run. Anthony Arias struck out the side in a perfect seventh inning to seal the 12-2 win for Campbellsville.
 
Diaz (1-0) earned the win after throwing four scoreless frames. He struck out five batters, but walked three and hit two batters.
 
Six different pitchers appeared for the Bulldogs with starter Jack Granath (2-1) throwing 2-1/3 innings and allowing four earned runs on seven hits in the loss.
 
Campbellsville is set to wrap up the weekend series against Tennessee Wesleyan at 1 p.m. ET from Athens, Tenn.

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