CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Campbellsville University baseball team played a pair of complete team games Saturday afternoon at HIG Field to win twice over Shawnee State by final scores of 8-1 in game one and 8-2 in game two.
In game one, it was the
Tyler Deason show as the senior was the starting pitcher and No. 3 hitter in the batting order for the Tigers. On the mound, Deason went seven innings allowing an earned run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. At the plate, the Campbell, Calif. native led CU with three hits in four at bats while also adding an RBI.
CU took an early lead with a single run in the second and third innings before extending their lead in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth,
Bryson Wallet drove in a pair with a single up the middle to make the score 4-1 at the time.
In the sixth,
Tyson Solis,
Austin Peterson and Deason drove in runs, all with two outs in the inning to extend the lead to 8-1. It looked like a big inning was in order after the first two runners reached base to start the inning but
Brandon Douglas lined into a double play. That was followed by an error on the SSU third basemen then the three-straight RBI hits from the Tigers to score four unearned runs with two outs.
After Deason's day was done through seven innings on the mound,
Malcom Grady came in to pitch the final two innings as he finished off the game without allowing a run. His first inning was a three-up, three-down effort aided by a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and another double play in the ninth helped Grady escape a bases loaded jam with no outs without giving up a run.
The second game of the day and series finale had an unstoppable pair of hitters for Campbellsville in the form of Wallet and
Tony Fonzo. The pair went 7-for-7 combined at the plate with six of the seven RBIs and each hit a home run.
Wallet went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs capped of with his solo home run in the fourth inning to give CU a 7-2 lead. Wallet could be on his way to his second Mid-South Conference Player of the Week after a 8-for-12 series and a 10-for-17 week with six runs scored, eight RBIs, two doubles and a home run.
Fonzo went 3-for-3 with a game-high four RBIs a double and a two-run home run in a five-run third inning for the Tigers. Fonzo's big game finished off a unique series for him at the plate as he went 3-for-5 in the series as a whole with six walks and a sacrifice bunt for seven trips to the plate not recording an official at bat.
That five-run third inning in game two of the double header was wild at its start after Solis singled on the first pitch of the inning,
Austin Peterson dropped down a sacrifice bunt. The Shawnee State defense let them down on the bunt as the pitcher, Dalton Phillips, threw the ball away at first allowing Peterson and Solis to advance to second and third.
Deason was the next better as he grounded a ball to second, presumably scoring Solis from third, but Howie Rodriguez, the SSU second baseman, booted the ball into right field then threw the ball away into the third base dugout trying to throw behind Peterson but it allowed him to score and sent Deason to third base. Wallet followed up with an RBI single that was followed by Fonzo's home run as the Tigers led 6-2 after trailing 1-0 and 2-1 early.
Eric Little got the start on the mound for CU for his first game action since Feb. 26 and the coaching staff eased Little back into action, removing the junior after just three innings and 40 pitches. He allowed two earned runs on six hits and a walk with no strikeouts for a solid performance in his return.
The combination of
Jesse Davis and Grady closed things out for the Tigers as they earned the sweep to start MSC play 3-0 heading into a big weekend at No. 11 University of the Cumberlands next week. Before that, CU will host a mid-week game against Brescia on Wednesday at HIG Field.
