DURHAM, N.C. – Looking to turn things around after a tough weekend series defeat to Bethune-Cookman, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for North Carolina Central University’s baseball program as the Eagles take on in-state foes Campbell University on Tuesday, April 16 at 6:00 at the Durham Athletic Park followed up by a first-ever meeting with High Point University on Wednesday April 17 at Willard Stadium at 6:00 p.m.
 
Both mid-week opponents hail from the Big South Conference, as the Camels are currently ranked No. 25 in the nation by Baseball America.  Campbell is 31-7 on the year and sits in first place in the North Division of the Big South Conference with an 11-4 mark in the league. NCCU is 1-14 all-time against Campbell as the maroon and gray upset the Camels 12-7 in Buies Creek, N.C. in last year’s regular season finale. 
 
Offensively, CU is No. 9 in the country in batting average hitting .319 as a team, fifth in the nation in hits with 410, and fourth in the nation in runs with 296.
 
Junior outfielder Clayton Brown paces the Camel offense with a .426 batting average, while junior infielder Elijah Trail tops the squad with 39 RBI on the year.  Ben McQuown tops the country in stolen bases with 42.
 
HPU (19-18, 6-6 Big South) is currently tied for third in the Big South’s North Division.  The Eagles have never met the Panthers on the diamond as this is the first of a home-and-home series between the two programs with the return matchup scheduled for Tuesday, May 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the Durham Athletic Park.
 
The Panthers are second in the Big South in batting at .307 as a team, and are led by senior Ryan Retz who is fourth in the conference, while sitting second in the league with 53 hits.  Retz tops the team with 25 RBI on the year.  His teammate Josh Spano is just behind him batting .331 with 24 RBI along with 51 hits.
 
NCCU (22-17, 10-8 MEAC) will send senior righty Ruben Rios (Fortuna, Calif.) to the hill for Tuesday night’s contest for his fifth start of the year.  Rios (2-0, 2.08 ERA) has won his last two starts and has logged 21.2 innings this year. 
 
Wednesday night, Jordan Quinn (Goldsboro, N.C.) will toe-the-rubber for his ninth start of the year coming off his first loss of his Eagle career last week.  Quinn (5-1, 1.86 ERA) has worked 58.0 innings this year having surrendered 12 earned runs with 31 strikeouts and 17 walks.
 
The Eagles were led last week by junior second baseman Spencer Franceschetti (Escalon, Calif.) who batted 5-for-10 (.500) with a double, two runs scored, two RBI, and five walks in four games played.
 
The NCCU Sports Network will cover Tuesday night’s contest with the Champps Pregame Show hitting the airwaves at 5:45 p.m. from the Durham Athletic Park, but will not broadcast the contest on Wednesday night at High Point due to the upcoming Eddies Award Show.
 
For more information about NCCU athletics, visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com or download the NCCU Sports Network app available in the App Store, Google Play and Amazon.