College of Charleston at Campbell
LILLINGTON, N.C. (Interstat) — Campbell’s Dylan Oster delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, lifting the Fightin’ Camels to a 3-2 victory over the College of Charleston and a series sweep in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup at Jim Perry Stadium.
The game, which began in the afternoon and concluded in the evening, was a tense pitcher’s duel that saw Campbell scratch out the winning run without a hit in the final frame. With the score tied 2-2, Campbell’s Peyton Simpson was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth. After a walk to Carlos Lugo and a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Charleston reliever Austin Wiegandt intentionally walked Lawson Morton to load the bases.
Kaden Myers entered from the Cougar bullpen and faced Oster, who lifted a 1-0 pitch to medium-depth right field. Charleston’s Nick Diaz made the catch, but Simpson tagged and scored easily to give Campbell the victory.
The most important sequence of the game occurred in the top of the seventh inning, erasing Campbell’s momentum and briefly giving Charleston the lead. The Fightin’ Camels had just tied the game 1-1 in the sixth on an RBI single by Andrew Schuldt. In the seventh, Charleston’s Jack LaCoste doubled and advanced to third on a throwing error. With two outs, Diaz laced a two-run double down the left-field line, plating both unearned runs to put the Cougars ahead 2-1.
Campbell answered immediately in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out, but failed to score. They broke through in the eighth when Trent Rumley led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on a wild pitch to knot the game at 2-2, setting the stage for the ninth-inning drama.
The game was dominated by pitching, particularly from starters Carson Bryant of Charleston and Campbell’s bullpen. Bryant was brilliant over 5 2/3 innings, allowing no hits and one unearned run while striking out six. His no-hit bid was broken up by Simpson’s single in the fifth, and he departed after Schuldt’s game-tying single in the sixth.
Campbell’ pitching, led by top star Cooper Clark, was equally effective. Clark, who entered in the third inning, allowed one unearned run on three hits over 4 1/3 innings of relief. He handed off to Braxton Shaffer and Caleb White, who combined for 4 2/3 perfect innings of relief, striking out five. The Campbell staff retired the final 11 Charleston batters in order.
Charleston managed only three hits, with Diaz’s two-run double accounting for all of its RBI. Campbell was held to five hits but took advantage of eight walks, two hit batters and two Charleston errors.
With the win, Campbell improved to 18-9 overall and completed a three-game sweep of the weekend series. The Fightin’ Camels have won seven of their last eight games. Charleston fell to 10-17 with its fourth consecutive loss.
Campbell next travels to face North Carolina on Tuesday. College of Charleston visits Winthrop on Tuesday.