Prospectus & Record Book
Game Notes (.pdf)
 
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Friday's Starting Pitchers
HPU: Sr., RH Jacob Newberry
Kansas State: So., RH Nate Williams

Saturday's Starting Pitchers
HPU: RJr., LH Sean Townsley
George Mason: Jr., LH Jared Gaynor

Sunday's Starting Pitchers
HPU: Sr., RH Jared Avidon
The Citadel: Fr., RH, Austin Mason

The Series: High Point will open the 2013 season at The Citadel Memorial Challenge. The Panthers will face Kansas State out of the Big 12 on Friday, George Mason from the CAA on Saturday and host The Citadel out of the SoCon on Sunday. It will be the first time that HPU has faced either Kansas State or George Mason. The Panthers last faced The Citadel in 2004 when they dropped three games during a weekend series in Charleston, S.C.
 
The Opponents:
• Kansas State is coming off a season in which it went 27-31 and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four seasons. The Wildcats return 15 letterwinners in 2013 led by junior outfielder Jared King, the 2012 Big 12 Batting Champion. King hit .377 last season and was named first-team All-Region by the ABCA and second-team All-Big 12. On the mound, Kansas State will open the season with converted closer Nate Williams who finished with a 4.50 ERA in 34 innings last season.
 
• George Mason went 33-24 in 2012 and have been picked fifth in the CAA this season. The Patriots struggled down the stretch last season, dropping seven of its final 10 games. GMU returns 21 letterwinners this season including junior third baseman Blaise Fernandez who was named preseason All-CAA honorable mention. Fernandez  started all 54 games he played last season and hit .269. Junior RHP Anthony Montefusco is being counted on to lead a rotation that has lost two weekend starters from last season. Montefusco went 4-3 with a 3.61 ERA in 2012.
 
• The Citadel finished the 2012 season with a 25-33 overall record. The Bulldogs played very well at home, going 20-13 at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The Citadel returns 22 letterwinners including seven position starters this season. Junior catcher Joe Jackson is the Bulldogs top position returner. The junior hit .279 with 20 extra-base hits last season. Senior Austin Pritcher returns on the mound after going 6-5 with a 3.19 ERA as The Citadel's Friday starter in 2012.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers:
• Friday: Senior Jacob Newberry will take the mound to open the 2013 season for the Panthers on Friday against Kansas State. Newberry finished the 2012 season with a 4-7 record and 4.60 ERA and led all starters with 51 strikeouts. The right-hander was 3-3 with a 3.74 ERA through his first nine starts in 2012 before running into a rough stretch due to injury. Newberry rebounded to post a  3.86 ERA over 16.1 innings in his final two appearences of 2012.
 
• Saturday: Saturday's starting pitcher against George Mason will be redshirt-junior Sean Townsley, a 6-7 lefty who is making his debut for the Panthers after sitting out last season. Townsley played his first two collegiate seasons at Florence Darlington Technical College. He posted a 6-3 record with a 3.51 ERA as a sophomore when he threw 48-2/3 innings and had 60 strikeouts. He went 1-2 with 20 strikeouts in 22-2/3 innings during his freshman season.
 
• Sunday: Senior right hander Jared Avidon returns for his final season with the Panthers and will get the start on Sunday against The Citadel. Avidon is High Point's active leader among pitchers in both starts (31) and appearances (42).  Last season, the right hander went 3-5 with a 6.82 ERA. Avidon pitched much better in his final three appearances of the season when he went 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA. Avidon threw a complete-game shutout on the road at Winthrop in HPU's final weekend series of the season, helping to secure the Panthers' spot in the Big South Tournament.
 
Panthers in Season Openers: HPU is 5-8 in season openers since joining Division I in 2000. Last year, HPU picked up a 2-0 win at home over Army in the first game of the three-game weekend series. The Panthers would go on to win the series two games to one. High Point is 1-7 in season openers away from Williard Stadium and 0-1 in neutral-site games. High Point's only other season opener at a neutral site was a 2-0 extra-inning loss to Charlotte in Greensboro in 2007.
 
Goodman Catching Eyes: Sophomore pitcher Joe Goodman was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list as one of the top bullpen arms in the country. Goodman earned Freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball last season after going 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA and a team-high 58 strikeouts in his first collegiate season.
 
Perfect Game Honors: Kendall Rogers from the website Perfect Game picked High Point as the fourth-best team in the Big South and the second-best team in the North Division in his conference preview. He also named senior Ryan Retz to his All-Conference team and listed both redshirt-junior Jaime Schultz and sophomore Mike Miedzianowski as Prospects to Watch in the conference.
 
The New Guys: High Point welcomes 11 newcomers to the squad this season. HPU has four freshmen and seven junior college transfers. Many of the newcomers are expected to see significant playing time including graduate student Adam Barry and junior transfer Kyle Brandenburg who are both expected to be in the starting lineup on Opening Day. Other newcomers expected to make an impact include redshirt-junior Michael Heller, junior Blake Hutton and freshman Sly Edwards.
 
Last Season: High Point started 2012 strong, going 20-11 in its first 31 games. Injuries then began to play a role in the season as HPU went just 4-18 over its next 22 games. The Panthers recovered at the end of the season to win four of their final six games, including two games in the Big South Tournament. HPU became just the second No. 7-seed to win over a No. 2-seed in Big South tournament history with a win over Campbell and the first No. 7-seed among the final four teams since 2000. The Panthers finished the season with series wins over Army, Dayton, Mercer, Manhattan, Charleston Southern, VMI and Winthrop.
 
Edwards Drafted by Cubs: Freshman outfielder Sly Edwards was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 2012 MLB Draft but chose to attend HPU instead of heading to the minor leagues. Edwards was selected in the 36th round.
 
Allen joins the Tribe: Just one year after being drafted by the Cleveland Indians former HPU pitcher Cody Allen was called up to Cleveland on July 20, 2012. Allen remained with the club the rest of the season and finished his first major league campaign with a 3.72 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 29 innings.
 
Roberts impresses at AFL: Former HPU outfielder and current Minnesota Twins farm hand Nate Roberts put on a strong showing at the Arizona Fall League. Roberts finished the season batting a league-best .446 in with multiple hits in 12 contests. He was also tops in the league with a .565 on-base percentage and a .662 slugging percentage. Roberts had five doubles and three home runs as well as six stolen bases in eight attempts. Roberts is one of three former HPU players currently playing in the minors along with Eammon Portice (Boston Red Sox), Jeremy Berg (LA Angels) and Tom Boleska.
 
Up Next: HPU hosts Charlotte on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The Panthers swept the 49ers in the teams' home-and-home series last season. High Point picked up a 12-5 win at home and a 9-5 win in Charlotte.