CLAYMONT — Ben Campbell allowed just five hits and struck out six, and St. Elizabeth made a first-inning run stand up in a 2-0 win over Archmere on April 25. It was the Vikings’ fifth win in their last six outings.
Luke Trout scored both runs for the Vikings, driven in on both occasions by Eric O’Neill. Auks pitcher Carsten Kaiser allowed just two hits, both in the sixth inning, but that was enough for St. Elizabeth.
Trout walked in the first inning, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by O’Neill. That was it for the scoring until the sixth, when that same pair teamed up again. Trout singled to left field. With one out and Trout at third base and Jimmy Garrett at first, O’Neill hit a ground ball to third. Garrett was forced at second, but his slide disrupted the throw to first, allowing Trout to come home.
Campbell, meanwhile, kept the Auks off the scoreboard, with a little help from his defense. In the fifth, the Auks had runners at the corners with one out, but two fly balls to right field ended that threat.
Trout kept an Archmere runner off the bases with a running catch of a long fly ball to begin the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh, the Auks’ Nick Zhu hit a blast that rolled up the hill in the deepest part of the park, but Campbell retired Andrew Parker on a comebacker to preserve the win.
St. Elizabeth improved to 6-5 this season. The Vikings have little time to savor this victory as they head to Sanford on Tuesday for a 4:15 p.m. first pitch.
Kyle Zahnow had two hits for Archmere, while Kaiser struck out seven. The Auks head to Tatnall on Thursday at 3:45 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
