Box Score BOX SCORE

Drew Geissinger earned a bases loaded walk in the 12th inning to push home the game-winning run for the High Point University baseball team in Sunday's 6-3 win over Gardner-Webb. The Panthers won the Big South Conference series with two extra-inning wins on the weekend.

Freshman Preston Packrall pitched 5-1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn his first collegiate win. He allowed five hits with one walk and two strikeouts but never had a ball hit out of the infield.

“This was one of the best games we have played in my three years at High Point,” said head coach Craig Cozart. “There were so many big plays in the game. Mike Mercurio and Murray White iV made diving plays to save runs. Mike Caldwell battled for five innings, Preston Packrall was unbelievable in relief and Drew Geissinger had an awesome at bat for the game-winning RBI. This was a great way to win the series.”

With the bases loaded in the 12th inning Geissinger battled back from an 0-2 count to earn a walk and push across the game-winning run, giving the Panthers a 4-3 lead. White followed with a single up the middle to plate two more and put HPU on top 6-3.

High Point tied the game with a run in the top of the ninth inning. Ryan Retz had a one-out single to short stop that he beat out and advanced to second on a base hit by Geissinger. Mercurio drove in the tying run with a bouncing base hit up the middle.

Gardner-Webb had a chance to win it in the ninth but pinch-runner Danny Yelverton was tagged out while trying to score on a bunt by John Harris for the second out of the inning. The next batter, Aaron Miller singled to short but Matt Sapp took too big a turn around the third base bag and Mercurio threw the ball to Geissinger who tagged Sapp for the final out of the inning.

Gardner-Webb put up a run in the first inning on an RBI double from Dusty Quattlebaum. He drove in Benji Jackson who led off the inning with a single through the left side.

HPU tied the game in the third inning. White doubled to right field and scored on a single to center off the bat of Spencer Andrews. Andrews fought off a pitch that dropped in just in front of the outfielders.

With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the third Caldwell gave up a two-run homer to Daniel Merck to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. Merck's home run was just over the left center field wall and scored Aaron Miller who had led off the inning with a single.

Caldwell went six innings allowing three runs on seven hits with two strikeouts.

Steve Antolik's solo home run in the eighth inning made it a 3-2 game. He took the 3-1 pitch from GWU reliever Brett Stackhouse over the center field wall for his fourth homer of the season.

Antolik finished the day 4-6 with two runs scored and an RBI and White went 3-6 with two RBI.

The Panthers improve to 15-11 (3-3 Big South Conference) with the series win over Gardner-Webb. High Point will play at Western Carolina Tuesday at 6 p.m.