No. 14 Campbell wins second straight Big South title
Posted May 27, 2023 6:42 p.m. EDT
High Point, N.C. — No. 14 Campbell secured its seventh Big South Tournament Championship in program history, and fourth in the past five seasons, beating USC Upstate 3-2 Saturday afternoon. Back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning powered the Camels to victory and punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Big South Player of the Year Lawson Harrill came up big once again, hitting a game-tying home run in the bottom of the eighth inning over the right field fence. The knock was his 22nd of the season to lead the team. Immediately after, Grant Knipp shot one over the wall in left field to give the Camels their first lead of the game.
“I just kept saying in the third base box just find a way,” coach Justin Haire said. “They went 3-1 to Lawson and he absolutely torched the ball and gave us a jolt there. Then Grant goes to two strikes and muscles one out to left. That’s the mark of our team: they’ve got perseverance, they’ve got belief, they’ve got confidence, and they’ve got ability.”
Chance Daquila got the start, allowing two runs and four hits across four innings of work. Aaron Rund (5-2) pitched five scoreless innings in relief to earn the win, allowing only three hits and one walk.
Upstate got the scoring started in the top of the first with an RBI single to right field by Rinehart. The Spartans followed that up in the fourth inning with a sac fly from Gernon to right to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Camels finally broke through for a run in the sixth, thanks to a bases-loaded walk by Dalen Thompson to bring home Max Weller.
Harrill finished the game going 3-3 at the plate and reaching base four times. Over the weekend, he totaled seven hits and four RBI.
Knipp earned tournament MVP honors by blasting the game-winning home run, notching four hits and four RBI, as well as shooting down two on the bases during the championship game.
This is the second time in program history the Camels have been back-to-back regular season and tournament champions (2018-19).
“What we’ve set out to do is be consistently good and have a chance to go to Omaha, and we’ve stamped that again today with this championship and are looking forward to continuing our one ride with these guys,” Coach Haire said.
Knipp, Harrill, Jarrod Belbin, Tyler Halstead, Chandler Riley, and Cade Kuehler were honored as members of the all-tournament team.
Campbell goes out on top from the Big South Conference, as the program is set to join the CAA in July 2023. They leave winning nine of the last 10 total regular season and tournament championships over the past five years.
Campbell awaits its seeding in the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced in the selection show on Monday at 12 p.m. Games in the regionals will begin on Friday.
