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5/8/2009 - SOFTBALL
Campbell Homers into the Championship Game
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DeLAND, Fla. - On the first pitch of the tenth inning, Campbell All-Freshman Selection Taylor McGee fired a long bomb over the center field fence to send the Camels to the Championship game by defeating Mercer, 1-0. Pitcher of the Year Brittany Stanley picked up her third win of the 2009 Atlantic Sun Softball Championship presented by Holiday Inn Express.
It was McGee's tenth home run of the season and second homerun in extra innings this season. The catcher hit an extra inning home run in the top of the eighth against USC Upstate in March.
First-Team All-Atlantic Sun pitchers Mercer's Jenni Holtz and Stanley battled through nine innings of play. Holtz took the loss, surrending one run on six hits and six strikeouts tossing 105 pitches in nine innings. Stanley threw 110 in 10 innings giving up three hits and striking out three.
Campbell threatened to score first in the top of the fifth when Camel junior Stanley reached second via a one-out Mercer error. Holtz forced the next batter, Hilary Wheatley, to pop out to first base. Off Keeli Michael’s hit to shortstop, Bears’ Sara Stukes backhanded the ball and streamed a shot to a fully-extended Page Rayor for the out at first to close the inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, consecutive singles from First-Team All-Conference selections Robin Leathers and Katie Hinton put Campbell in perfect scoring position, but Holtz buckled down and forced two strikeouts from Karlie Love and pinch hitter Lauren Stephan. The Camels would finish the inning with a line out from Amanda Miller.
During the regular season Campbell and Mercer split their series, Mercer took one game 5-2 while Campbell took a 3-2 victory. In the 2007 tournament, the No. 5 Camels took the No. 6 Bears out of the tournament with a, 6-3, win in DeLand.
Campbell now waits to see who it will face in the Championship game. The opponent will be decided after games two and three of today’s tournament.
The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.
