STERLINGTON, La. – The Tigers had a quick turnaround after playing #4 LSU Shreveport last night. The Tigers would match up with Texas A&M Texarkana and Southwestern Christian University, splitting the day.
GAME ONE: Campbellsville 8, Texas A&M Texarkana 2
Campbellsville came in with new energy to start the day. Alex Castaneda didn't waste time with a first-pitch single up the middle. The next two pitches put in play were ground balls, advancing him to third. Chad McCann would reach after a two-out walk. Josiah Clark delivered the first clutch hit with an RBI single. McCann and Clark would move into scoring position after a passed ball. Noah Amenta would come through with a rope into right field, resulting in two runs coming across. CU would score three runs on three hits.
The Eagles would try to scratch back in their time at the plate. CU would issue the second free base of the inning with one out down. Kacey Cheek would settle down and strike out the next two batters looking.
The top of the second was quiet for the Tigers. TAMUT would make some noise and close the gap with two runs on two hits and one error defensively.
The response was a big one for Campbellsville. Henry Wright doubled and then stole third with one out. McCann would draw his second walk to place runners on the corners. Clark would pick up his second RBI of the contest with a Sac-Fly to right. Amenta, in his second at-bat, walked to put two Tigers aboard. Grant McQueary would launch a ball to the moon for his first home run of the season. This three-run blast would give CU the 7-2 lead.
The leadoff would get aboard via the error. The Tigers would execute the double play to perfection, 5-4-3. After clearing the bases, Cheek would pick up his fourth strikeout to end the third inning.
Jorge Gonzalez would keep the bases hot with a walk. With two down, he would steal second and advance to third, 90 feet away. Henry Wright would deliver the next blow with an RBI single, taking the 8-2 lead.
Cheek's day would end as Mason Lee would enter out of the bullpen. Cheek went three innings, giving up two hits, two runs, and four punchouts. 32 of his 46 pitches found the strike zone. Lee would come in and sail through his first inning. He induced a groundout, a fly out, and struck out his first victim.
In the fifth, Campbellsville would be retired in order after the Eagles brought another arm to the bump. Lee would also follow with his second 1-2-3 frame.
The sixth and seventh inning would make no mark on the contest as Mason continued to shove. In relief, he went four innings, no hits, no runs, and five strikeouts. He had a fantastic performance on the mound, as 31 of his 36 pitches were strikes. Lee was dominant in working ahead and getting into counts, which made him effective.
Offensively, Campbellsville scored eight runs on six hits. Wright was the lone tiger with two hits. Castaneda, Clark, Amenta and McQueary each had one. Grant led the team with three RBIs. Clark and Amenta each had two runs driven in.
GAME TWO: Campbellsville 1, Southwestern Christian 7
PJ Ledesma started on the mound for the Tigers' match-up against Southwestern Christian. After a double down the left field line, Ledesma forced the next three batters into ground outs and pop-ups. However, Campbellsville suffered the same fate when it was their turn at the plate.
At the top of the second, one Eagle batter got a hit up the middle but was left stranded on second base as Ledesma collected three consecutive Ks.
Ledesma continued to rack up strikeouts into the third inning as he shut out two more batters. In the latter half of the inning, the Tigers still suffered at the plate and did not see the bases.
Southwestern Christian capitalized off an error to the Tigers' shortstop. The following two batters did not see notable results. The Eagles pushed ahead of the Tigers with an RBI off a single to right field. The unearned runner crossed the plate, leaving Campbellsville to trail. Ledesma capped off the inning as he struck out the final batter.
The first batter of the fifth inning reached first on an error from the shortstop. Aaron Hammer entered the contest to relieve Ledesma and offer a new arm on the mound. The next batter also reached first on an error which put Southwestern Christian in a position to score. As Campbellsville captured their first out, the Eagles had a runner cross the plate. Southwestern solidified two more RBIs before Campbellsville tallied the next two outs. The Eagles led the Tigers 4-0.
Southwestern continued to rack up runs as they placed the ball into the gap. The opponent sent a ball to right center to earn Southwestern first base. The Eagles put another run on the board to further Campbellsville's discrepancy as they composed another single to the right side of the field. Hammer poised two strikeouts to finalize the top of the inning.
The bottom of the sixth inning seemed to start much like the rest of the Tigers' at-bats. Jacob Balsley was the first on the Campbellsville roster to compose a hit. However, the following batters left Balsley stranded on the bases.
Kobe Fredland came in to pitch for Hammer. Fredland forced the first batter to ground out and walked the next. Southwestern collected a hit to push the unearned runner into scoring position. The runner scored on a passed ball, and fellow Eagles moved around the bases. Southwestern finalized their seventh run on another passed ball. Fredland retaliated as he struck out the final Eagle batter.
Henry Wright singled up the middle to reach first base in the Tigers' last chance to scratch back. Chad McCann came into the contest to pinch-hit for Noah Amenta. McCann's hit rebounded off the right field wall, allowing him to reach second base. However, Wright was thrown out at the plate by a relay throw from right field to second base, reaching the catcher. On two outs, Josiah Clark doubled to right center to score McCann. Campbellsville could not accomplish any more runs as they walked away in a 7-1 loss against the Eagles.
McCann finished the evening batting 1000, while Balsley finalized a 500 at the plate. The Tigers only had four hits out of the 24 at-bats in the contest. Campbellsville threw 155 total pitches and ended with a .645 strike percentage. The Eagles only threw 100 pitched and finished with a .700 strike percentage from the mound.
The Tigers will finish their time in the Cajun Collision tomorrow afternoon as they take on Loyola University. The first pitch will be thrown at 12 p.m. ET.
