March 20, 2010

Final Stats - Game 1

Final Stats - Game 2

CARY, N.C. - Five homeruns from the Campbell University (11-15-1) offense led the Camels to a Saturday afternoon sweep of North Carolina Central University (4-16) in doubleheader action at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, N.C. The Lady Eagles fell in both games by the score of 11-2.

NCCU tallied just five hits on the day, struggling to hit an impressive Camel pitching stable. The Lady Eagles totaled four runs on five hits in 44 at-bats. The Campbell bullpen struck out 20 NCCU batters and walked just one, while the Lady Eagles had three errors on the defensive end.

Senior Kristen Schooler (1-5) earned the start in the circle for the Lady Eagles and suffered the loss after allowing eight runs on nine hits with two walks in four innings of work. All eight runs were earned. Schooler dropped to a 1-5 record on the mound and has a 12.74 ERA on the season.

Sophomore Aurora Baker (0-1) returned from injury to make two appearances on the day. In both appearances, she pitched in relief and allowed a total of seven runs on 10 hits in four innings of action. Of those seven runs, four were earned. She walked three and struck out three, the only three strikeouts from the Lady Eagle stable.

Making the start in the circle for the second game was freshman Kayla McPeek (2-4), who suffered her fourth loss of the season. McPeek allowed seven runs on eight hits with a walk in five innings pitched. Six of those seven runs were earned. The Westerville, Ohio, native fell to 2-4 on the mound.

Campbell had to face the strength and speed of the Nadias as the Lady Eagle offense was led by Nadia Jefferies and Nadia Moreta. Jefferies, one of the top Lady Eagle hitters this season, put on another impressive performance in the batter's box. She went 2-for-6 with two runs and two stolen bases. The freshman from Garner, N.C., had two of the Lady Eagles' five hits and scored two of their four runs.

Moreta, another local talent, went 1-for-2 with a RBI and a stolen base. Her RBI came in the fifth inning of the second game when she singled to the right side to plate Shakemia Edwards, who earned a spot onboard off a patient at-bat, which led to a walk. Edwards notched the only walk of the day for NCCU.

Two of the Lady Eagles' captains also contributed to the NCCU offense. Michelle Ishida went 1-for-5 with a stolen base, while Ashanti Stroud went 1-for-5 with a run.

Campbell notched five homeruns in the ballgame and went 27-for-63 with 22 runs, 21 RBIs, six walks and three stolen bases. Defensively, they totaled just two errors, which took place in the second game of the doubleheader.

The Camels were led by the bat of Taylor McGee, who went 6-for-7 on the day with two homeruns, a double, four runs and eight RBIs. Joining McGee was Lauren Stephan, who went 4-for-6 with three runs, two RBIs and a homerun. She also earned a save in the circle after allowing just one run on one hit with five strikeouts in three innings of work in the first game of the doubleheader. Her one run was unearned.

Sarah Forgacs, a familiar face in the Raleigh-Durham area as she resides from Morrisville N.C., and went to high school right down the street from Thomas Brooks Park at Green Hope, went 2-for-5 with a homerun and two RBIs. Cassie Webb was also dominant at the plate for the Camels as she went 2-for-7 with two runs, five RBIs, a double and a grand slam.

Earning the win in the circle after the first game was Christina Melton (5-4), who gave the Lady Eagles all they could handle. She earned the win after allowing just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts in four innings pitched. Her one run was earned. Stephan relieved Melton to earn the save.

The Camels threw three pitchers in the second game. Brittany Stanley (4-7) earned the start and took home a win after allowing just one run on one hit with four strikeouts in four innings of work. She was followed by Brittany Arnn, who allowed just one run on one hit with one walk and two strikeouts in one inning, while Katie Woodcock finished the game, allowing zero runs on zero hits with one strikeout in one inning of work.

NCCU was in the ballgame for the first three innings of the first game, down 1-0 after a homerun to left-center field by Stephan in the second put the Camels on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, a seven-run fourth was all the Camels needed to put a damper on the Lady Eagles' day. Campbell held an 8-0 lead until Jefferies scored the first run of the game for the Lady Eagles when she stole home in the fourth.

Campbell struck back in the fifth with another run to increase their lead to 9-1 going into the bottom of the fifth. Stroud earned a spot on base with a single to the right side and advanced to second on a passed ball. She eventually made it to third and was plated off a passed ball again to give the Lady Eagles their second and final run of the ballgame as Campbell's pitching retired the next nine batters for NCCU, but not before they managed to get two across the plate in the seventh to take an 11-2 win.

The second game was much closer for the first half of the ballgame. Campbell struck first in the third; plating three runs to take a quick 3-0 lead. NCCU responded back with a run in the fourth to cut the deficit to one at 3-1. Another run by the Lady Eagles in the fifth put them within one as the Camels stood with a 3-2 lead.

One inning was all Campbell needed to take control of the game as they scored eight runs, four earned, in the sixth. Four of those runs came off a grand slam to deep left-center field from the bat of Webb. NCCU eventually pulled itself out of the inning after the Camels had done damage with an 11-2 lead.

It was the bottom of the sixth and the Lady Eagles needed just two runs to keep the game going, but an outstanding pitching performance from the Camels would retire all three NCCU batters to give Campbell an 11-2 victory as they improved to 11-15-1 on the season. NCCU dropped to 4-16 on the season.

NCCU will return to action tomorrow, March 20, when they head to Wilmington, N.C., to face the Seahawks of UNC Wilmington (3-17) at Boseman Field. The Seahawks have struggled a bit this season, coming into the matchup with a 3-17 record. They are currently on a two-game losing skid. UNCW has three student-athletes hitting above .300 on the year to lead the Seahawk offense.

Live statistics will be available for Sunday's game against the Seahawks at www.NCCUEaglePride.com.

For more information on Lady Eagle softball, visit the official website of NCCU Athletics at www.NCCUEaglePride.com.