Box Score

NCCU-12 Campbell-7 (FINAL BOX SCORE-HTML)


BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Sophomore Tyson Simpson’s first-ever five-hit contest along with five Eagles recording two RBI was exactly what North Carolina Central University needed to earn its first-ever victory over Campbell University on Thursday afternoon taking down the Camels 12-7 in front of a stunned Taylor Field crowd in Buies Creek, N.C.
 
“It was very important to maintain the momentum we’ve earned over the last two week heading into the conference tournament,” said NCCU head coach Jim Koerner.  “To beat a team like Campbell for the first time in this young program’s history only gives us even more confidence moving forward.  I’m extremely proud of these young men.
 
In a ballgame that saw a combined eight batters hit-by-a-pitch, 10 walks, and 22 runners left on base, the Eagles took a 5-1 lead in the top of the second inning scoring four runs on two hits but left the bases loaded.  Junior Luis Diaz (Geneva, N.Y.) recorded RBI No. 28 on the year with an infield hit, as sophomore Troy Marrow (Lutherville, Md.) helped plate an NCCU run as he was hit-by-a-pitch to give him 40 RBI on the year.
 
That’s when Campbell battled back with a little help from the Eagles as the first four batters of the frame reached base.  Three CU hitters were walked while the other was plunked by-a-pitch.  With the score 5-2 following Cam’Ron Summers walk, Jimmy Brenneman recorded a sacrifice fly and Michael Felton ripped a double to drive in the tying run but was gunned at third to end the frame.
 
A Josh Holskey RBI single in the bottom of the third gave Campbell the 6-5 lead seemingly giving the home team the momentum, but NCCU would not be denied.
 
Two innings later, a Carter Williamson (Roanoke, Va.) singled to left centerfield to start the fifth frame..  After a wild pitch advanced Williamson to second, a Ross Plummer (Winston-Salem, N.C.) groundout put him on third with one out.  Senior Etienne Farquharson (Inagua, Bahamas) knotted the game up at 6 with an RBI groundout giving him 10 RBI on the season.
 
Campbell swung right back in the bottom of the sixth after three of the first four hitters reached base after getting plunked, and David Olson reached on an error charged to Simpson.  Olson hit a bounding ball over to Simpson who fielded the ball cleanly but lost his balance in trying to make a throw allowing CU to take a 7-6 lead after six complete.
 
The turning point in the ballgame came in the top of the seventh inning as NCCU plated five runs on four hits.  Two of the hits drove in four of the five runs giving a huge momentum boost to the maroon and gray.  NCCU head coach Jim Koerner inserted freshman Deion Doubledee (Wilson, N.C.) into the ballgame with two outs and the bases loaded and the rookie drilled a single through the right side to drive in Williamson and Plummer giving the Eagles an 8-7 lead.  After sophomore Dylan Drayton (Raleigh, N.C.) ripped an RBI single to center field to put the maroon and gray up 9-7, Simpson threw the biggest haymaker of the day as he doubled to the wall in left center field to score Doubledee and Drayton giving the Eagles an 11-7 lead.  A lead the Eagles would never relinquish.
 
With the four run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, junior lefty Michael Romano (Spotsylvania, Va.) entered the game in-relief and went on to retire six of the first seven batters he faced heading into the ninth inning.
 
In the top of the ninth, Drayton and the Eagles put the game out of reach as the shortstop reached base for the fourth time on the day with a one out single, later scoring the game’s final run on Diaz’s second RBI single of the day giving NCCU the 12-7 lead.
 
CU’s Olson led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double to get the Camel offense revved up but Romano slammed the door on any comeback hopes forcing back-to-back foul outs and a fly out to left field to record the final out of the game as the Eagles pulled off the huge upset on the way to their fifth consecutive victory to end the regular season with the 12-7 win over Campbell.
 
In 14 previous tries, NCCU had fallen short against Campbell, including a 20-0 Camel victory on April 11 in Durham along with a 15-2, 6-1 doubleheader sweep in early March.
 
Junior righty Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) picked up the victory for the Eagles in his home county by throwing two innings allowing only one run on one hit along with two strikeouts to give him 142 in his NCCU career.  Romano earned his first career save as an Eagle in his three inning performance where he surrendered two hits and no earned runs allowed.
 
Local Harnett County product Heath Bowers took the loss for Campbell as he pitched five innings giving up four runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
 
Simpson led NCCU going 5-for-6 on the day with two RBI.  Prior to today’s offensive outburst the sophomore had never recorded more than three hits in a contest.  Simpson has recorded at least one hit in 11 of his last 14 ballgames and has seen his batting average rise to .286 on the year.
 
Drayton went 2-for-4 with two walks, four runs scored, and two RBI, while freshman Tyler Murphy (Islip, N.Y.) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.  Diaz was the third Eagle to record multiple hits on the day going 2-for-6 with two RBI on the day.  Marrow made his lone hit of the day count as he crushed his first career triple to right centerfield to lead off the eighth inning as he record two RBI on the day to make him the second Eagle to amass 40 RBI in a season.
 
NCCU (18-30, 13-10 MEAC) ends the regular season winners of five-in-a-row and will look to take that momentum into the 2012 MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) Baseball Tournament that begins on Wednesday, May 16 and ends on Sunday, May 20 at Marty Miller Field in Norfolk, Va.  If Savannah State loses one game to first-place Bethune-Cookman, the Eagles will clinch the No. 2 seed in the Southern Division, meaning NCCU would take on the No. 3 seed in the Northern Division on Wednesday night at 7:30 at Marty Miller Field in the conference tournament.
 
Campbell (35-15, 10-8 Big South) lost for only the sixth time at home this season putting together a 24-6 mark at Taylor Field.
 
The win for NCCU gives the Eagles their first-ever victory over a team from the Big South Conference.  The 18 regular season wins gives the maroon and gray the most victories at the Division I level needing just three more wins to tie the modern day program record of 21 wins in a season.
 
Stay up-to-date with North Carolina Central University Athletics by flying over to www.NCCUEaglePride.com, the official website of NCCU Athletics.