Friday, March 25, 2011

BUIES CREEK, N.C.-Cameron Nelson blasted Paul Snieder's one out 2-1 pitch well over the wall right center for a walk-off home run, as Campbell downed Northwestern 9-6 Thursday night at Taylor Field.

Down, 6-5 headed into the bottom of the ninth, Kyle Holmstrom and Ben Fish both connected on infield hits to put runners at first and third with one out. A Wildcat error then scored Erick Gaylord, who was inserted as a pinch runner for Holmstrom, tying the game at 6-all.

With a 2-1 count, Nelson then smashed the NU offering into the night, giving the Camels the 9-6 win. Nelson's walk-off was the first for the Camels since opening day 2008, when Brandon Scott won it against Dayton in Greg Goff's first game leading CU.

The Camels move to 11-12 on the year with their third-straight win, while Northwestern falls to 5-13 overall. The win was the first for Campbell over a Big Ten foe since the Camels defeated Michigan State twice in 1998 at Taylor Field. The Camels are 5-4 all-time against Big Ten opponents, going 2-3 against MSU and standing 4-0 in the Northwestern series (last played in 1984).