Campbell twirls Courgars past Catawba 5-0 in NCAA Regional

FLORENCE, SC – Junior right-hander Thomas Campbell tossed a three-hit shutout while striking out 12 as fourth-ranked and second-seeded Columbus State University blanked 25th-ranked and fifth-seeded Catawba College 5-0, Thursday afternoon (May 13) in the second game of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Baseball Tournament.

The Cougars (43-10) win their ninth consecutive game and advance to face ninth-ranked and third-seeded Georgia College & State University on Friday at 7 p.m.  Catawba (40-12) will meet the Francis Marion University/Erskine College loser in an elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m.

Campbell needed only 97 pitches, of which 64 were strikes, to record his 10th win in 12 decisions.  His only walk came in the ninth inning and he did not allow a base runner past second base.

Catawba senior right Trevor Mullins (8-3) was tagged with the loss as he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits in only three innings.

Despite stranding 12 base runners in eight frames, CSU did find enough key hits to plate five runs.  The Cougars scored the only run Campbell would need in the bottom of the first on Ryan Lewis’ RBI double to left center field.

The Cougars scored twice in the third to up their advantage to 3-0.  Catcher Mitch Rider had an RBI ground out and a second tally came home on a two-out Catawba error.

CSU added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on RBI singles up the middle by lead-off man Alex Montes and Lewis.

Lewis finished the game 4-for-5, while first baseman Jason Rogers was 3-for-5 with two runs scored to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.  Montes continued his hot hitting with a 3-for-4 day.

Second baseman Brett Underwood was 1-for-3 with a double for Catawba.

CSU designated hitter Wes Adkins was 0-for-1 but was hit by a pitch three times, one shy of the school and NCAA single-game record.

QUOTE:

Catawba head coach Jim Gantt:

“The story of the day was their pitcher.  You can’t win when you get shutout.  Their hitters did a good job of making adjustments and getting some key hits.  Our relievers did a good job of keeping us in the game.”