Box Score
High Point University senior outfielder Mark Shorey belted a three-run home run to highlight a 9-8 Panther comeback win over Furman in baseball action Saturday afternoon at Furman Stadium.
With High Point trailing 7-3 with two outs and two runners on base in the sixth inning, Shorey drove a Patrick Arnett pitch over the right field fence to pull the Panthers to within a run. Later in the eighth, Shorey singled home Jeff Cowan to tie the game at 7-7, and J Williams followed with an RBI single through the left side to score Chris Norwood for an 8-7 lead.
The Panthers added a run in the ninth on Randy Schwartz's sacrifice fly for a 9-7 advantage.
In the bottom of the inning, Jay Jackson's one-out double to right center scored Joe Daysh, but Jackson was called out at third base after trying to stretch his hit to a triple. The Panthers' Bubba O'Donnell then retired Sean McDonnough on a pop out to preserve the win and earn his second consecutive save of the year.
Shorey went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs, and Cowan went 4-for-6 and scored twice to spark High Point (4-4) to a 16-hit attack. Furman (0-2), the recipient of 10 walks by Panther pitchers, managed only seven hits in the contest, including two each by Maccani, Jackson, and Daysh.
Chris Marks (2-0) earned the win in relief after surrendering only one hit in two innings of work. Arnett (0-1) took the loss after yielding five runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings of relief work.
"This was a good win for us," said HPU head coach Sal Bando, Jr. "I was very happy and pleased with how we played offensively and defensively in the game. I thought it was a heroic effort by our guys to overcome the 10 walks we gave up. They did a great job of grinding it out by having good at-bat after good at-bat. We kept battling and finally gained a lead and won the game."
After a J Williams single off Paladin starter Matt Klinker put High Point up 1-0 in the first, the Paladins answered by scoring three runs in the bottom of the frame without the benefit of a hit. Six walks by High Point starting pitcher Noland Mulligan accounted for all three runs.
After High Point tied the game with two runs in the second, Furman tallied three times in the third on a Jackson RBI single, a run scoring double by Maccani, and on a wild pitch, which plated Steven Hildreth.
Furman stretched its lead to 7-3 in the fifth on Maccani's solo home run to left center off Zach Zupan.
With the start of Saturday's game delayed over two hours due to rain, the two teams will play a double header on Sunday starting at Noon to conclude their three-game weekend series.
