Camels come back to advance past CCSU, 10-5
Posted June 3, 2023 8:45 p.m. EDT
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Campbell (45-15) extended its season with a 10-5 win over Central Connecticut State (36-14) Saturday afternoon in the first elimination game of the Columbia Regional at Founders Park. The Camels battled back from down 5-0 with 10 unanswered in the seventh and eighth innings to keep the season alive.
Bryce Arnold played the hero with a game-tying grand slam in the seventh to kickstart the Campbell offense for the first time all weekend. Jarrod Belbin helped break the game open the next inning with a three-run shot of his own to put the Camels up by five.
Belbin’s blast in the eighth marked Campbell Baseball history, making Belbin the only player in Campbell baseball history with a 20-20 season. The redshirt-senior is now sitting at 20 home runs and 25 stolen bases on the year.
The Blue Devils opened the scoring by plating two unearned runs in the second inning, with Elliot Good and Aidan Redahan each earning an RBI. They added another run in the third inning with an RBI groundout by Jeff Nicol to score Ramon Jimenez.
CCSU knocked back-to-back two-out home runs on back-to-back pitches from Hunter Loyd in the fifth to put the Devils up 5-0 at the time.
The Camels had an opportunity to get on the board sixth with the bases loaded and one out, but Logan Jordan grounded into his second inning-ending 5-3 double play of the day without Campbell able to push a run across.
Campbell loaded the bases again in the seventh, and Dalen Thompson hit an infield single to short to bring home Lawson Harrill and crack open the scoring for the Camels. That run seemingly opened the floodgates, setting up Bryce Arnold’s 395 foot grand slam to left field later in the inning to tie the game at five.
Campbell loaded the bases for the third straight inning in the eighth, and Chandler Riley walked home Drew Winters to give the Camels their first lead at Regionals, 6-5. Grant Knipp came around to score after a fielder’s choice led to a throwing error by CCSU’s catcher to up a pair. Jarrod Belbin completed the five-run inning with a three-run shot to left field for his 20th home run of the season.
Ty Cummings (6-2) earned the win as he, Jackson Roberts and Aaron Rund combined for 3.1 scoreless innings in relief. Roberts and Rund each faced the minimum in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
The Camels now advance to the second elimination game, taking on the loser of the South Carolina vs NC State matchup. First pitch will be at noon on Sunday, and broadcast details will be announced soon.
