Date Posted: 5/8/2008

DeLAND, Fla. - A three-run homer from freshman Keeli Michael in the second inning provided all the offense Campbell would need to pull off a 3-2 upset of defending-champion Stetson at the 2008 Atlantic Sun Softball Championship.

Stetson's loss marks the first time since the introduction of the current Championship format in 1996 that the higher seed has lost all thee opening-day games. It is also the first time since 2003 that a five-seed has knocked off a two-seed on the Championship’s first day.

The home run came against one of the top pitchers in the conference in Erica Demers, who defeated the Bulldogs twice in last year’s Championship to crush their Championship hopes.

"Erica Demers has owned us the last two-plus years here, so we knew we had our hands full," Campbell head coach Drew Peterson said. "Our focus was just to be patient, look for the pitch you want, be confident in yourself, don’t leave anything on the bus and at the end of the day feel good about how you played."

As a team, the Camels came into the 2008 Championship with the most home runs of any participating squad. Prior to Thursday, Michael could claim only one of those long balls.

"I'm not really much of a power hitter, I usually just try to get on base," Michael said. "I just tried to make contact and I guess I made pretty good contact on that one."

The second home run of Michael’s young collegiate career was all ace Brittany Stanley would need despite getting herself into a volatile situation in the fourth inning.

With one out and the Camels leading 3-1, Stanley gave up a base hit followed by three-consecutive walks, making the score 3-2. With the bases loaded and one out, Stanley struck out Nicole Forbes and got Andrea Migliori, who finished the season with the second-most home runs in the conference (20), to fly out harmlessly to left field.

The Hatters were first on the board after an RBI-ground out off the bat of Lyndsay Wightman in the bottom of the first.

Stanley earned the complete-game victory for the Camels. She gave up only four hits but walked seven batters. Demers took the loss for the Hatters, allowing three earned runs off seven hits while striking out nine.

Campbell advances to play ETSU at approximately 8:00 p.m. ET. The top two seeds in the tournament face off in the Championship’s first elimination game when Stetson takes on No. 1 seed Lipscomb at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET.

Related Links:
 • A-Sun Softball Championship