CAMPBELSLVILLE, Ky. – What looked like a doubleheader sweep for Campbellsville on Wednesday turned into walking away a little disappointed with a split with University of Rio Grande Wednesday afternoon into the night.
An offensive explosion carried the Tigers to their 17-10 game one victory over the Red Storm as CU scored four, eight, and four runs in three-straight innings in the middle of the game. 13 of the 17 runs scored in the game by the Tigers were scored with two outs in the respective innings.
Campbellsville actually trailed in the game, going down 2-1 in the third inning before scoring their four third inning runs. In that inning,
Chris Taitague cracked a two-run single up the middle to drive in two. An error from the Rio Grande shortstop allowed an unearned run and helped keep the inning alive for
Adbiel Morales, who smoked a ball down the left field line for an RBI double.
The fourth inning was looking like it could be a missed opportunity for CU after loading the bases with two outs then having back to back hitters fly out to shallow center field, not deep enough to have the runner tag from third. Then it was Taitague again with a two-out single to center, driving in two.
The inning continued with two outs as Morales tripled to left center, driving in two,
Bryson Wallet had an RBI single and
Marco Murillo singled to center to drive in the final run of the inning, pushing the Tigers' lead to 13-2.
The final four runs scored by the Tigers came in the fifth, after a
Tommy Sepulveda RBI triple then a
Tyler Deason no-doubt three-run home run to right.
It wasn't all offense in the game as CU starter
Aaron Hutchinson earned his third win of the season, going five innings allowing four earned runs on five hits with two walks and a career-high seven strikeouts. The seven strikeouts doubled Hutchinson's strikeout total on the season as the junior came into the game with only seven total strikeouts on the season.
Game two was a lower scoring affair as the Tigers still used the big inning to take a 3-1 lead at the time. It was in the bottom of the fourth when
Cale Thompson singled up the middle driving in the tying run then a two-out triple from Morales scored two runs to take that 3-1 lead.
Rio Grande cut the lead in half with a run off of
Jesse Davis in the fifth inning, carrying a 3-2 lead into the top of the seventh.
Gage O'Brien got the call out of the bullpen for CU in the seventh but gave up the lead and allowed the Red Storm to take the lead without getting an out.
Rio led off with a hit batter that was followed by three-straight singles to get their lead and also threaten with runners on first and third. O'Brien was able to pitch out of the threat getting a fielder's choice out at the plate and back-to-back strikeouts.
Unfortunately the Tigers went down in order to finish the game in the bottom of the seventh and that finished the day in a split of the doubleheader.
Looking ahead, Campbellsville will host Cumberland University starting tomorrow with a single game at 4:00 p.m. ET with the doubleheader being moved to Friday. The schedule change is due in part to weather forecasts predicting rain all day on Saturday and Sunday.
The Phoenix are in second place in the Mid-South Conference standings with an 8-4 conference record through their first four series. They lost two out of three in their most recent conference series against Georgetown with a doubleheader sweep tonight over Brescia.
