BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – If you are a fan of pitching and defense, Thursday's baseball game between Campbellsville and Union College was not the game for you as the teams combined for 23 runs on 27 hits and the Bulldogs alone made eight errors. The Tigers came out on the better end with a 15-8 win to move to 4-1 in the early going this season.
For the Tigers, the three and four spots in the order held by
Tony Fonzo and
Donnel Bailey were big time run producers on Thursday as the pair combined for seven RBIs, six hits, and four runs scored.
Fonzo reached base in every trip to the plate, going 4-4 with a two-run home run in the sixth inning to give CU an 11-3 lead at the time. Fonzo finished a triple short of the cycle with a double and two singles and was walked in his last two at bats, once intentionally, in the at bats following his home run.
Bailey went 2-5 in the game with four RBIs, two of which came on a two-run single in the top of the ninth for the Tigers' 13
th and 14
th runs of the game. The top of the order had to get on for Fonzo and Bailey to knock them in and that's exactly what
Tyson Solis from the leadoff spot, going 4-6 and scoring 2 runs.
The bottom of the order contributed in a big way as
Bryson Wallet launched the first long ball of the day with a two-run shot in the second inning for his first of the season. Wallet and
Tommy Sepulveda scored a combined four runs from the eight and nine spot turning the lineup around back to the top of the order.
Union used eight pitchers in nine innings as they combined to only give up six total earned runs out of the 15 total runs scored by CU. The Bulldogs eight errors led to nine runs while Campbellsville's defense did not commit an error all game.
The Tiger pitchers struck out a total of 11 batters in the game led by
Brenden Nipp, who got the start and struck out 6 in 3.2 innings. Nipp cruised through the first two innings, striking out five and allowing one base runner. Nipp earned the win after giving up three runs on six hits and a walk in his 3.2 innings.
Campbellsville will have a quick turnaround for a doubleheader on Saturday against Reinhardt University. The Eagles are 2-1 on the season after taking two out of three games from Pikeville in their season-opening series.
Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET first pitch as the games will be two nine-inning games.