Mountaineers win opening series against Campbell 2-1

Pitcher Tyler Tuthill unloads a fastball against Georgia State April 9, 2021.

Kurt Zottl, Reporter
February 21, 2022

The App State baseball team opened up its 2022 season with a weekend trip to Buies Creek, Feb. 18-20 to take on Campbell University. The Camels are one of the top baseball schools in the country and went 37-18 last season, reaching the NCAA tournament.

The first of the three games for the Mountaineers ended 9-0 in favor of the Camels. Campbell led 4-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning when a five-run inning put the game to 9-0 in favor of the Camels, ultimately putting the contest away. Despite the loss, the Mountaineers only allowed five hits the entire game.

The second game went in the Mountaineers’ favor, winning 5-1 behind a great pitching performance from sophomore pitcher Xander Hamilton, who is now 1-0 on the year, and redshirt junior Eli Ellington as the closer.

Early in the fourth inning, the Mountaineers got on the board due to a run batted in by graduate student utility player Andrew Greckel, with redshirt freshman infielder Austin St. Laurent bringing in the run. The final two innings were busy for the Mountaineers as they scored four of their five runs. Freshman outfielder RJ Johnson grabbed two RBI’s, St. Laurent brought in another run, and App State won 5-1, evening the weekend series to one game apiece.

The last of three games also went to the Mountaineers, with them eventually winning 5-4 in a back-and-forth game.

The scoring started in the fifth inning when junior infielder Luke Drumheller singled to right field and brought in Johnson for a run. The Mountaineers continued scoring in the inning, extending their lead to 3-0 after an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Dylan Rogers and a wild-pitch from Campbell that brought in Drumheller to score.

Campbell captured a run in the fifth inning, but the seventh inning was big for the Camels, scoring three runs and taking the lead 4-3 heading into the eighth inning. A two-run homer by redshirt freshman Hunter Bryson took back the lead for App State, who now led 5-4. The Mountaineers held on to win the game, and with that, the series.

App State quickly turns around and travels to Durham Feb. 22 to take on the Duke Blue Devils, who just won their season-opening series 2-1 against Virginia Military Institute.

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