Box Score The High Point baseball team left 13 runners stranded and surrendered three homers in dropping an 11-1 decision in the series opener against Cincinnati on Friday at George Erath Field.
The Panthers (5-7), who have now lost their last three games, scored in the first but then struggled at the plate as the Bearcats (3-4) rattled out 18 hits on the day with a trio of players finishing with four hits each.
"They just beat us in every phase of the game today," said HPU head coach Sal Bando, Jr. "The last few games we have really struggled finding a guy to get the key hit. We missed several opportunities to put runs on the board with guys on third with less than two outs. We just have to continue to work and get better in those situations."
High Point took the early 1-0 lead after Jeff Cowan and Mark Shorey drew first inning walks off UC starter Steve Blevins (1-2). Blevins then balked the pair into scoring position and J. Williams capitalized slapping a single into right field pushing Cowan across the plate.
Cincinnati answered with a run of its own in the top of the second when Jack Nelson singled to start the inning and moved to second on a fielder's choice. Nick Maragas followed with the first of his four hits on the day driving in one of his five runs in the game.
The Bearcats added five more in the third off HPU starter Eammon Portice (1-2). Josh Harrison took first after being hit by a pitch and Logan Parker belted a shot to dead center for his first homer of the year. After a strikeout, Portice hit Mark Muscenti but got Nelson to pop up before Jon DeLuca dropped down a perfect bunt single to keep things rolling. Maragas again made the Panthers pay driving a shot over the left field fence to up the score to 6-1.
Harrison added a homerun in the top of the fourth to extend the Cincinnati lead. The two teams traded zeros on the scoreboard for two innings before DeLuca doubled off Panther reliever Zach Zupan to lead off the seventh. A wild pitch moved DeLuca to third before Maragas singled up the middle to score the runner.
The Bearcats closed the scoring with a three-run ninth inning as DeLuca and Maragas led off the frame with singles and were followed by a single from LaFringe Hayes and a double by Harrison. Parker lifted a sacrifice fly to center pushing home the final run.
Portice suffered the loss for the Panthers pitching five innings and allowing 10 hits and seven earned runs while striking out five. Zupan and Zach Scott both worked two innings of relief for High Point.
High Point finished the game with six hits with Billy Aguiar leading the way with two hits. Sophomore Chris Norwood saw his team best hitting streak halted at 10 games.
Blevins got the victory for Cincy and A.J. Upton earned the save with four innings of one-hit shut-out relief. Harrison, DeLuca and Maragas all finished with four hits on the day with Parker adding three. Harrison finished a triple shy of the cycle. Cincinnati leftfielder Brian Szarmach went 0-for-5 at the plate with five strikeouts.
The two squads return to the diamond on Saturday at 1 p.m. as redshirt-freshman Tom Boleska takes the hill for High Point against Cincinnati's Kyle Rapp. The final game of the three-game set is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
