Several Fighting Camels are enjoying solid season on the summer collegiate baseball circuit as eight Campbell University players are competing around the country.

Alex Aycoth, a third baseman from Sanford, Fla., is batting .297 with three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI while starting 23 of 25 games for the Westhampton (N.Y.) Aviators of the Hamptons Collegiate League.

During the 2009 season for the Camels, Aycoth hit .297 with 12 doubles, one home run 50 RBI and 38 runs scored while starting 46 of CU’s 51 games.

Zach Johnson and Ellis Lowe are playing with the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League.

Johnson has started 39 of the team’s first 40 games and leads the club with eight doubles and 20 RBI.  In addition, the native of Smithfield, N.C., has a .234 batting average with 23 runs, three homers and has stolen nine bases in 11 attempts.

Last spring with the Camels, Johnson led the nation in doubles (29) and was second to teammate Ryan Hamme in doubles per game (0.57), while rating 10th among Atlantic Sun Conference hitters with a .380 batting mark.  His .705 slugging percentage stood fourth in the league.  He also had 12 home runs and 61 RBI in 51 contests.

Lowe has played in 32 games with 31 starts for the Tobs, who own a 24-16 overall record.  The second baseman from San Marcos, Calif., is hitting .250 with 11 runs, three doubles, eight RBI and nine steals (in 13 attempts).

Following the 2009 season, Lowe was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-South Region second team.  He batted .404 and led the Atlantic Sun Conference with 69 runs scored during the 2009 season.  A second-team All-Atlantic Sun Conference selection, the sophomore ranked third among A-Sun leaders with a .404 batting average and 90 hits.  He was tied for fifth with eight triples, ranked sixth in RBI (62), seventh in stolen bases (16) and ninth in on-base percentage (.456).

In addition, Lowe hit career highs for doubles (14) and home runs (5) and slugging percentage (.561), while starting all 51 games for the Camels.  He ranked 18th in the country in runs scored per game (1.35).  In addition, he earned A-Sun All-Academic team honors.

Left-handed pitcher Hunter Ford is playing with his hometown Wilmington (N.C.) Sharks in the Coastal Plain League.  In 11 appearances (one start), Ford has fashioned a 1-2 won-lost record with a 6.75 ERA.

In 19 appearances for the Camels as a junior in 2009, Ford notched a 4-2 record with a 7.38 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched.

Coming off a standing first year with the Camels, Rydman has made seven starts and eight overall appearances for the Duluth (Minn.) Huskies of the Northwoods League.  He owns a 1-2 record and 3.19 ERA with 24 strikeouts and only four walks in 42.1 innings pitched.

The Gladstone, Mo., product and transfer from Fort Scott Community College produced a 5-1 pitching record and team-leading 5.43 earned-run average for the Camels last spring.

Outfielder Chris Bangi owns a .429 on-base percentage and .247 batting average in 29 games for the Battle Creek (Mich.) Bombers.  He has three doubles, six RBI and has stolen six bases in seven chances, while scoring 20 runs.  Bangi’s on-base average has been raised by 24 walks.  He has been hit by six pitches as well.

Last spring, Bangi was plunked 30 times (0.65 per game), most in Division I.  The Jacksonville, Fla., native also had 18 steals in 46 games.  He ranked first in the A-Sun and sixth in the country with a .538 on-base percentage.

Bryan Braswell and Dan Gardo are also in the Northwoods League this summer, playing with the Wisconsin Woodchucks.  Braswell is hitting .143 with one RBI in seven games.  Last spring with the Camels, the catcher from Rocky Mount, N.C., hit career highs in batting (.318), home runs (2) and RBI (15) in 28 games for the Camels.

A left-handed hurler from West Chester, Pa., Gardo has made 13 appearance (one start) for the Woodchucks and owns a 0-1 record with a 4.30 ERA in 29.1 frames.

As a sophomore for the Camels in 2009, Gardo compiled a 1-4 record with two saves and an 8.37 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 33.1 innings pitched.

Campbell again ranked among the nation’s most potent offenses during 2009.  At the end of the regular season, the Fighting Camels stood among the nation’s top-10 teams in nine different categories and posted the program’s first winning record (27-24) since 2001.

Campbell’s non-conference victories included a 12-8 triumph at 19th-ranked East Carolina, plus back-to-back wins on the road (7-4) and at home (16-7) over N.C. State in early May.

The Camels broke the school record for stolen bases in a year (117) set by the 2008 team.  With 117 thefts in 51 games, the Camels not only led the Atlantic Sun Conference, but ranked eighth among all 288 Division I members.  In fact, Campbell swiped more bags than any other A-Sun school attempted.