Box Score The High Point baseball team fell to Campbell 17-6 Tuesday night at Coy O. Williard Sr. Stadium in a non-conference match-up. The loss drops HPU to 7-15 on the season while the Fighting Camels improve to 12-13.
Campbell scored the game's first 10 runs and raced out to a 10-2 advantage after the first four innings of play. Leading the way was Ryan Hamme who had four RBI during that stretch including a three-run homerun in the fourth inning. D.J. Johnson and Chris Bangi both had big hits during that stretch, a two-run double and two-run single, respectively.
The Panthers got on the board when Max Fulginiti doubled in Bill Manion who reached on a fielder's choice. Kyle Mahoney had been hit by a pitch and advanced to third base on the play. Billy Alvino drove him in on a deep sacrifice fly to rightfield.
CU quickly answered back posting three more runs in the fifth inning. Hamme began the inning with a double to right-centerfield. He advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. After a flyout, Zach Johnson would single through the left side setting up a Carlton Floyd two-run homerun. It gave the visitors a 13-2 lead.
The two sides would trade off the next six runs, High Point getting one in the fifth and two in the seventh while the Fighting Camels got one in the seventh and two in the eighth inning. The first run for HPU came on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Cowan in which Hamme made a spectacular diving catch to rob Cowan. Hamme was hurt on the play with an apparent shoulder injury and was carted off the field. In the seventh, Spencer Andrews crossed home plate on a wild pitch and Mahoney drove in Wheeler in a single through the left side.
High Point closed the scoring in the ninth with Wheeler drawing his second walk of the game and Manion being hit by a pitch. Both advanced a base on a wild pitch. Mahoney plated both runners on a single to right-centerfield, giving him a team-leading 18 runs batted in.
Suffering the loss for the Panthers was Mikel Rodenberg, dropping him to 0-2 on the season. The right-hander gave up eight runs (seven earned) in 3.1 innings of work on seven hits and four walks. Mahoney and Wheeler led the offense with two hits apiece and each extended their hitting streaks to 14 and six games, respectively. Fulginiti also upped his hitting streak to 12 games.
Z. Johnson picked up four hits on the night while three other Camels picked up three hits each. Johnson also had three runs batted in as did Floyd and Hamme drove in a game-high four runs. Hunter Ford moved his record to 1-1 tossing 2.1 innings allowing three runs (one earned).
HPU returns to action tomorrow evening, April 1, when it travels to Boone, N.C. for the second time this season to take on the Mountaineers. The Panthers dropped a 7-2 decision on March 4th to ASU. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
