BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell outfielder Dalen Thompson blasted a two-run walk-off home run in the home 10th inning to give the Fighting Camels a 7-5 win over the North Carolina A&T Aggies in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) baseball, Sunday afternoon at Jim Perry Stadium.
Thompson's homer was unfortunate in so many ways. It prevented A&T from completing an incredible comeback from a 5-0 deficit. It also gave the Camels the series 2-1 after the Aggies won Game 1 to end a 17-game losing streak to Campbell. A&T's loss also drops them to 3-6 in the CAA as it fights to qualify for the CAA tournament. The Aggies are 18-13 overall. Meanwhile, in a fight to make the conference tournament, Campbell improved to 22-9 overall and 5-4 in CAA play.
Campbell came out of the gate hot at the plate against A&T right-handed starter Avery Cain. Lawson Harrill hit a two-out solo home run before Thompson grounded out to end the inning. A crazy rundown led to the Camels second run. With runners on first and second and two outs, Campbell's Braeden O'Shaughnessy hit a ground ball up the middle that a diving Enrique Wood stopped from going into center field.
Wood fired home, catching Charlie Meglio in a rundown between home and third. In pursuit of Meglio, the ball got away from third baseman Isaiah Monge, giving Meglio a window to slide home for the Camels second run. After all that craziness, the Aggies did get Max Weller in a rundown after catcher Canyon Brown finally tagged him out after five different Aggies touched the ball during the play.
Campbell grabbed its 5-0 lead in the fourth. A walk to Reed Stallman ended Cain's afternoon after he pitched three innings. A&T turned to senior RHP Jake Delisi, who surrendered a single and hit a batter to load the bases with no outs. After getting Weller to pop out, O'Shaughnessy provided the Camels with an RBI single. Delsii followed by striking out Peyton Bonds before Chandler Riley hit a two-run single to right field for the 5-0 advantage.
Delisi pitched an incredible ballgame after getting Harrill to ground out to end the fourth. He threw five additional innings after that, giving up only two hits, striking out nine and walking only one. Overall, he went six innings, giving up five hits and two runs, walking one, and striking out 10. Delisi made some clutch pitches in pivotal moments to keep Campbell from crossing the plate. His fire on the mound helped the Aggies facilitate a comeback on the offensive end with very few hits.
A&T's first hit came in the fifth inning, a leadoff base hit by senior outfielder TJ Ash. Campbell starter and RHP Nate Brittain left the game after pitching five scoreless innings. Campbell replaced him with RHP Jeremy Wiegman to open the sixth, and he walked the first two batters he faced in senior outfielder Michael Logan and graduate first baseman Tatsunori Negishi. That led to one of the biggest plays of the game.
Brown hit a sharp ground ball to Riley at shortstop. As he attempted to make the scoop and toss to second for the force out, he dropped the ball, allowing Brown to reach and the Aggies to load the bases with no outs. The Aggies took advantage. Junior Chet Sikes walked, forcing in a run and ending any hopes the Camels had of a shutout. The walk led to Campbell putting RHP Packy Bradley on the bump.
Senior Devon Rodriguez said hello with a two-run single to center, cutting the Aggies deficit to two runs, 5-3. Bradley's troubles continued as he hit Wood with a 1-0 pitch to reload the bases before walking Monge to force in another run and bring the Aggies to within one run. Bradley finally exited the inning with a strikeout of Shemar Dalton and a groundout by Logan.
The game morphed into a pitcher's duel from there, with Delisi and Bradley mowing down batters in their way. But A&T managed to put a base runner on, thanks to another error at short for the Camels. After reaching, Ash stole second and eventually reached third on a wild pitch. That led to Wood's RBI sacrifice fly to left, scoring Ash and tying the game at 5-5. Delisi retired the Camels in order in the eighth and ninth innings before giving way to junior RHP Angel Ortiz (L, 2-2).
Ortiz walked Harrill before Thompson's game-winning homer ended the game. It was a disappointing end to a game in which the Aggies generated so much excitement despite only recording two hits. Dalton failed to reach base for the first time in 26 games, ending his remarkable streak.
A&T returns to non-conference action on Tuesday when it plays the Charlotte 49ers at 6 p.m. at Hayes Stadium in Charlotte.
