Both Campbell, Braham drive in 4 RBIs to push University past B-U for 7th straight win, 14-3

Braham went 3 for 5 with four runs and four RBIs while Campbell went 2 for 5 with a run and four RBIs to lead the charge for the Hawks lineup.

“Noah comes to mind as a standout performer from today. He has been swinging the bat really well of late. Wenkai also came up big for us at the plate today. We are a hard team to beat when we are connecting with the ball like we did today,” Riggleman said.

Gabe Jansen got the starting nod, earning the win for the Hawks after a solid outing in which he allowed just a single run on a lone hit while striking out four in 3 1/3 innings on the mound for University.

“Gabe did a really good job at finding his spots, throwing strikes and staying ahead of the count. I thought our defense played great, supporting him in the field and coming up with some key plays. But Gabe gave us a great shot with the way he limited them offensively early,” Riggleman said.

Levi Boyd, Tyler Furbee and Logan Vance all saw time in relief out of the bullpen.

Boyd didn’t allow a single run and only gave up a single hit while striking out three in 1 2/3 innings of action.

Vance walked two and fanned two while surrendering two runs on as many hits in his lone inning pitched before Furbee closed out the game strong for University, not giving up a single hit or run while walking two and striking out one in the final inning to seal the win.

As a team, the Buccaneers scattered four hits with Landon Marple going 2 for 4 with a run to lead Buckhannon-Upshur’s lineup in the loss.

Tucker Burr took the loss for Buckhannon-Upshur after giving up allowing six runs on eight hits and striking out three in three innings of work.

Both Ryan Snyder and Clint Crites logged time in relief out of the bullpen.

Snyder gave up four runs on three hits, retiring four while walking two.

Crites closed out the game for the Buccaneers, giving up four runs on two hits while walking three and striking out one.

University found its groove early with Braham getting the scoring started in the top of the first by singling on a dribbling ground ball down the third base line to left field, driving in Brodee Latocha for the game’s opening run.

Gabe Templeton singled on a line drive to left center field, plating Cody Thomas before Jake Croston sent a ground ball single to short to bring Braham in, giving the Hawks an early 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.

After Gabe Jansen held the Buccaneers scoreless in the bottom of the first with three successive outs, the Hawks got back to work offensively in the top of the second with Braham smashing a line drive to deep right field, forcing an error that allowed both Jarrett Walters and Latocha to round the bases for scores.

The very next at-bat, Campbell grounded out to second base but not before freeing up Braham to tack another run onto University’s lead, 6-0.

After neither team scored in the third, University added a pair of runs to their advantage in the top of the fourth with Thomas scoring after a black by B-U’s Ryan Snyder before Croston laced a high-arcing double to left field to plate Braham as University’s lead swelled to 8-0.

The Buccaneers finally got on the board in the bottom of the third with Payton Bennett scoring off an University error after the Hawks failed to pick him off the base paths at second to cut the Hawks lead to 8-1.

University responded with two scores in the top of the fifth with Braham tripling to right center to bring in Walters and Campell singling to center field to score Braham.

Desparately needing to generate runs, down 10-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Buccaneers came up with a score as Crites smashed a dribbling ground ball past University’s third baseman with Marple taking advantage of the Hawks’ error for a score.

Yet that would be as close as B-U got as University closed the door on any Buccaneer comeback attempt with four runs in the top of the seventh as Cample singled on a line drive to right field to drive in both Daniel Grabo and Latocha, Templeton’s ground out to shortstop plated Thomas and Campbell scored on a wild pitch to give the Hawks a 12-run lead, 14-2.

The Buccaneers lineup landed a parting shot on the Hawks as Jaden Westfall scored off a University error yet it was too little, too late as Furbee sealed the win by striking out Blake Runyon looking.

“Today’s game was a business trip for us. We have been on a tear lately so we came into today wanting to maintain our high-level of play and keep the positive momentum rolling. We look forward to seeing how far we can go to finish this year strong,” Riggleman said.

Buckhannon-Upshur will look to snap a three game losing streak traveling to take on Morgantown on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. while University (13-8) is set to return home to put its current winning streak to the test against Bridgeport on Wednesday at 5 p.m.