CLINTON, S.C. – Behind a three-run bottom of the eighth highlighted by a two-run double from Senior Kyle Merkle, the Presbyterian College baseball team was able to take game two by the score of 3-1 from #14 Campbell on Thursday night at the PC Baseball Complex. The Camels took game one by the score of 14-7 before the Blue Hose game two triumph. Merkle finished with five runs knocked in during the doubleheader highlighted by his game-winning two-run double in the late going on Thursday night.
FINAL SCORE (G1): #14 Campbell 14, Presbyterian 7
LOCATION: PC Baseball Complex (Clinton, S.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (12-19, 5-5) | #14 Campbell (23-5, 10-0)
W: Cameron O'Brien (2-0) | L: Duncan Howard (2-2) | Save: Aaron Rund (3)
FINAL SCORE (G2): Presbyterian 3, #14 Campbell 1
LOCATION: PC Baseball Complex (Clinton, S.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (13-19, 6-5) | #14 Campbell (23-6, 10-1)
W: Kyle Mueller (4-1) | L: Ty Cummings (0-1) | Save: Tanner Smith (6)
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME ONE
- Campbell got the early offense going in the first with a solo homer to take the early advantage in game one.
- The guests increased to a 3-0 lead in the second with a two-run double before back-to-back homers in the fourth made it a 5-0.
- The Blue Hose got on the board in the fourth with an RBI single from Dalton Reeves before a pair of runs off of a sacrifice fly courtesy of a Camels error cut it to 5-3 after four frames.
- Campbell pushed across four runs in the sixth to increase the advantage to 9-3 after 5.5 innings.
- Lorenzo Rios reached on a fielder's choice in the sixth allowing a run to score and cut it to 9-4.
- PC cut into it even more in the seventh as Merkle connected on a mammoth three-run homer to cut the deficit to two at 9-7.
- Campbell though had the final shot with a five-run top of the ninth to propel the Fighting Camels to a 14-7 game one victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME TWO
- In game two, Campbell started with an RBI single in the second to gain the early 1-0 advantage in the second inning.
- The two teams were held scoreless thru the seventh inning before the Camels were erased in the eighth on a massive throw from Jay Wetherington to Reeves that allowed the Blue Hose to keep it a 1-0 deficit.
- Reeves got the Blue Hose on the board in the eighth with a sacrifice fly before Merkle connected on a two-run double to deep center that got PC out to a 3-1 lead.
- Tanner Smith continued his dominance with a shutdown ninth inning that propelled the Blue Hose to a 3-1 victory over the nationally ranked Camels.
NOTABLES
- PC's victory in game two marks the first win over a ranked opponent since April 14, 2015, when the Blue & Garnet downed the #27 ranked South Carolina.
- It's the highest win over a ranked opponent since 2012 when the Blue Hose defeated UCF who was ranked #13 at the time of the win.
- The win is the second in eight tries for the Blue Hose in defeating a ranked opponent on their home field. PC's last home win over a ranked opponent was in April of 2009 when the Blue Hose downed #19, Coastal Carolina.
- With Thursday's split, the Blue Hose have defeated Campbell three of the last five times on their home field and have won six of the last 10 overall meetings with the Fighting Camels.
- In game one, the offense was led by Wetherington and Gorman who each had a pair of hits in the contest. Gorman now has eight multi-hit games which is second only to Brody Fahr.
- Merkle's three-run homer marked the second straight game and the third time in the last five games he had gone deep late in the opening contest.
- Rios with his two RBIs in game one marks the second career multi-RBI game for the freshman.
- Duncan Howard set a new season-high and matched his career-high on Thursday with eight strikeouts in five innings of work.
- Merkle finished the doubleheader with five of the Blue Hose nine RBIs after his three-run homer followed by the massive two-run double in game two.
- Freshman Kyle Mueller tossed an impressive two shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts to improve to 4-1 after the game-two triumph.
- Tanner Smith finished it off in game two for his sixth save of the 2023 season.
UP NEXT
- The Blue Hose and Camels are set to close out the weekend series on Friday with first pitch set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+. With inclement weather in the area, follow @PresbyterianBSB on social media should there be any changes.
