CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Campbellsville University baseball team hosted the Thomas More Saints Thursday evening in their first conference game of the spring. The Tigers struggled to defend their home turf and dropped Thomas More 17-5.
Ryan McFarland stood on the pitcher's mound to throw the first pitch for Campbellsville. McFarland struggled to hit the zone and granted the first two batters free bases. The Saints capitalized off Campbellsville's wild pitches and loaded up the bases. Thomas More racked up two runs before the Tigers secured the first out. The Saints tacked on another RBI from a sacrifice fly, but Grant McQueary solidified the third out for the Tigers. In the latter half of the inning, Campbellsville retaliated with two runs of their own. Henry Wright trotted to second after being hit by pitch. Samio Uze singled through the left side to push Wright around the bases. Runners were in scoring position as Chad McCann joined first base after being hit by pitch. Both Wright and Uze scored on errors by the pitcher as the inning closed.
The Saints strung together a couple of singles and a walk to load up the bases. Luis Lopez came into the contest to relieve McFarland. Lopez collected his first K of the evening as he poised the second out. Thomas More pinned two more runs on a single to right field before McQueary threw the ball over to Noah Amenta to tag the runner. Campbellsville was shut out in three consecutive at-bats to close the inning.
In the third inning, Lopez knocked down the first batter with a backward K. Campbellsville's errors allowed the Saints to acquire spots on the bases. Thomas More counted two more unearned runs and an RBI walk before Campbellsville made another pitching change. Zion Payne entered the competition and collected the final two outs with a backward Ks.
Thomas More put up another run in the fifth inning. Campbellsville entered the bottom half of the inning looking to retaliate. A Campbellsville runner stood on first base after being hit by pitch. A double play wiped the Tigers' attempt to score after Logan Verble hit to the second baseman. Kale Seitz doubled to left center, and Amenta composed an RBI to score Sietz. Campbellsville was unable to put up any more runs before returning to defense.
With two outs, Thomas More found themselves on the bags after an error and a walk. The Saints continued to further Campbellsville's deficit as Thomas More exchanged a triple to left field for a two-run RBI. Moments later, the Saints add another run to their score. Mael Zan homered to center field for a solo RBI in the bottom of the seventh.
Several changes were made for Campbellsville as the Tigers took the field. Maddux Mateychuk stood on the mound for Campbellsville. Runners stood in scoring position as Thomas More composed a three-run RBI. Kobe Fredland switched out Mateychuk to ease the tension placed on the Tigers. The following two outs were accomplished with a strikeout and lineout to third base. In Campbellsville's final appearance at the plate, each of the Tigers' attempts ended in a strikeout.
The Tigers did not gain as much reward at the plate in comparison to the Saints. Campbellsville finalized a .550 strike percentage after throwing 129 total pitches, whereas Thomas More composed a .532 strike percentage in thier 218 pitches. In their time at the plate, the Tigers went 1-8 with runners in scoring position, while the Saints finished 8-24 in the same scenario. Thomas More bested Campbellsville with 15 total hits to the Tigers' six.
The Tigers will return to HIG baseball field for a doubleheader against the Saints on Friday, February 24th. The first pitch will be thrown at 1 p.m. ET.
