BUIES CREEK, N.C. – After waiting 48 hours due to rain, the Hartford baseball team was back on the diamond on Saturday, dropping an 18-3 decision to the Campbell Camels. With the loss, the Hawks are 0-2, while Campbell improves to 4-1 overall.

Three players finished with two hits to lead Hartford, Trey Stover, James Alfonso and rookie Aaron Wilson. Stove was one of three players to knock in the Hawks three runs with Pat Knauth and Chris DelDebbio joining him.  Junior Alex Gouin suffered the loss for Hartford. The starter pitched 2.1 innings and gave up eight earned runs on six hits while walking one and striking out two others.

Rookie's Jacob Mellin and Sam McKay as well as sophomore Sean Newcomb all saw relief time for the Hawks. Mellin allowed three runs on five hits, while Newcomb gave up six runs, five earned, on four hits. Mellin also struck out two batters, while Newcomb fanned six. McKay closed out the game, pitching two outs, allowing one run on three hits.

The Camels put Hartford on the defensive right from the start scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The first two came courtesy of a single to left from junior third baseman Elijah Trail. His first hit of the game allowed Ben McGouwn and Michael Felton to score. Senior catcher Michael DeLucia provided a single up the middle that scored the third and fourth runs of the inning. His single allowed Trail and David Olson, who also reached on a single, to score.

Hartford threatened in the second and third, leaving a total of five runners stranded over the two innings. In those two innings Stover and Alfonso recorded their first hits of the season, while Brady Sheetz also hit a single, his second of the young season.

Campbell added four more runs in the bottom of the third inning and broke the game open with fourth more in the third, taking an 11-0 lead. In the third, Trail and DeLucia each drove in their third runs of the game, while Olson and Nick Ray each drove in their first of the game. Ray then added two more RBI in the fourth when he drove in Felton and Brent Graham on a single to left.

Hartford got on the board in the top of the fifth with rookie Aaron Wilson opening up the top half of the inning with his first hit as a collegian, a double to right center field. After advancing to third on an infield groundout, Wilson scored courtesy of a single up the middle from Stover, his second hit of the game.

The Hawks added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning, taking advantage of three straight walks from Camels reliever Russell Clark that started the inning with bases loaded and no outs. Knauth provided the first RBI of the inning when he drove in Brian Hunter on a fielder's choice. Centerfielder DelDebbio drove in the second run of the inning on an infield groundout that scored Sheetz.

Campbell answered those two runs by scoring seven more and taking an 18-3 advantage into the ninth inning. Austin Beard, Black Boyce, Will Albertson, Jesse Simmons, Trevor Lane and Colby Fox all drove in runs in the eighth, with Lane knocking in two.

The Hawks and Camels are scheduled to play a doubleheader to close out the series on Sunday afternoon before the Hawks return to the Northeast. Hartford and Campbell will throw the first pitch at 1:00 p.m. at Jim Perry Stadium.