March 10, 2010
Box Score
BUIES CREEK, NC - Sophomore Brendan Norton continued his impressive road trip for La Salle Baseball as he again registered a multi-hit evening which included a grand slam. However, the host Campbell Camels defended their home Taylor Field and took the two-game series with a 19-7 victory on Wednesday night in non-conference action.
Norton, who had a double and triple in Tuesday's game, hit for the cycle in the series as he singled in the fourth and hit his first collegiate home run in the fifth. Freshman Eric Kammler also had a pair of hits in the loss.
Already trailing 8-0, Norton led off the third inning with a single, followed by a Jeff Flax single, and John Malloy loaded the bases with a walk. However, as the Explorers did a day before, a costly double play ruined a possible big inning and only Norton would score.
One inning later, the Explorers again loaded the bases as Kammler walked, Dan Klem reached by an error, and Tony Negrin walked. Norton then blasted the round tripper over the right field wall to pull La Salle to with 10-5.
Over the last five seasons, La Salle hitters have now hit five grand slams by five different players. The other four each finished with at least 15 career home runs. The last Explorer to register one was TJ Chism on Feb. 28, 2009 at Morehead State and he finished with 15 career long balls in just three seasons.
In 2008, John Rickards (24 career HRs) hit his on May 10 versus George Washington. The Explorers did not hit one during 2007, but knocked two out in 2006. One was hit by Rich Prall (17) on April 14 versus Massachusetts, the other by George Hudock (22) on May 7 versus Richmond.
Campbell (8-4) added six insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and tacked on three more in the seventh to push its lead to 19-5.
La Salle (1-7) plated a pair of runs in the ninth as Kammler singled home Kevin Jones and Chris Umstead brought home Joe Bennie.
The Explorers will now travel to Lexington, VA to play a four-game series at Virginia Military Institute starting on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 5 PM on both Thursday and Friday.
