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Friday Starters:
RU: So., LH Nick Margevicius
HPU: R-Sr., RH Scot Hoffman

Saturday Starters:
RU: Jr., RH Vincenzo Aiello
HPU: Jr., RH Andre Scrubb
 
Sunday Starters
RU: So., RH CJ Hirschy
HPU: Fr., RH Andrew Gottfried

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team wraps up its 14-game home stand with a weekend series against Rider starting on Friday, March 11. The Panthers have won eight of their last nine games and are coming off a two-game sweep of La Salle during the week.

Series: The three-game set will be the first meeting between the High Point and the Broncs.
 
The Opponent: Rider comes to Williard Stadium still in search of its first in 2016, as the Broncs are 0-8 after two weeks. Rider fell to Wofford, UNC Asheville and USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., dropped a decision to Lafayette in midweek action then was swept in a four-game set against Gardner-Webb. The Broncs' offense is led by Jake Bender and Dalton Mayberry. Bender is hitting a team-best .313 with four doubles and eight runs scored while Mayberry is hitting .300 with two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. The team is averaging just 2.6 runs per game and has been held to two or fewer runs in each of its last four games. Left-hander Nick Margevicius will take the mound on Friday for the Broncs followed by right-handers Vincenzo Aiello and CJ Hirschy. Margevicius has started two games and is 0-2 with a 7.56 ERA in 8-1/3 innings of work. He has allowed 15 hits and six walks while striking out six in his two appearances. Aiello has made two starts and currently sports an 0-2 record with a 13.50 ERA in 6-2/3 innings. Hirschy is 0-1 in his two starts with a 5.59 ERA in 9-2/3 innings.

HPU vs. the MAAC: The Panthers are 6-1 against schools currently in the MAAC during the HPU Div. I era (2000-present). High Point took two out of three games against Marist on Feb. 26-28, dropping the first game of the series for its first loss to a MAAC team. In addition to their performance against Marist this season, the Panthers are 3-0 against Manhattan and 1-0 against Niagara.
 
Probable Starting Pitcher:
•Friday: Senior Scot Hoffman will try to get on track when he takes the mound for High Point on Friday. The right-hander has struggled over his three starts this season with a 10.95 ERA in 12-1/3 innings pitched. Against Dayton last week, Hoffman pitched four innings and allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits and walk and struck out one. He pitched four scoreless innings before giving up five singles and a walk to start the fifth.
 
•Saturday: Junior Andre Scrubb will try and build on his best start of the season when he start for HPU on Saturday. Scrubb pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out eight against Dayton last weekend. In his last two starts, the right-hander has surrendered just two earned runs in 13 innings on nine hits and six walks while striking out 15. He is 2-1 with a 4.76 ERA on the season.
 
•Sunday: Freshman Andrew Gottfried will make his second career start for High Point on Sunday. The right-hander pitched five innings and allowed three runs, one earned, in his first start last week. He is 1-1 on the season with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings of work.
 
Last Time Out: High Point swept its second midweek series of the season with two wins over La Salle at Williard Stadium. The Panthers won 5-1 in the first game and came back with a 4-0 win in the second, their second shutout in four games. Freshman Cooper Jeffers earned his first collegiate win on Tuesday after giving up just one unearned run in 5-1/3 innings of work. Senior right-hander Michael Hennessey then earned his second win in as many weeks with seven scoreless innings on Wednesday. Hennessey matched his career highs in both innings pitched and strikeouts, a high he had just set in the previous week. Junior Chris Clare recorded a hit in both games, going 3-7 with a walk and two runs scored. The Panthers stole five bags on Tuesday, including two by sophomore Carson Jackson.

Last Weekend: HPU earned its second-straight weekend series win, taking two of three games from Dayton at Williard Stadium. The Panthers won the first two games by scores of 10-9 and 3-0 but fell short of the sweep, losing to the Flyers by a score of 5-1 on Sunday. Senior Tim Mansfield went 4-7 in the three games with two triples and a team-best three RBI. Sophomore Hunter Lee hit .429 (6-14) for HPU and fellow sophomore Austen Zente hit .400 (4-10) and stole four bases in the three games. High Point enjoyed a walk-off win on Friday when the team got an RBI single by Lee with the bases-loaded after giving up a game-tying home run in the top of the frame. On Saturday, junior Andre Scrubb pitched eight shutout innings for his second win of the season. The right-hander allowed just four hits and three walks and struck out eight.

Panthers Running Wild: High Point has stolen 29 bases through the first 13 games of the season, which ranks third in the nation behind only Eastern Michigan and Portland. The Panthers are on pace to break the HPU Div. I single-season record of 123 stolen bases set in 2010. Sophomore Austin Zente stole seven bags in the series against Wright State and Dayton and is second in the Big South. Juniors Chris Clare and Luke Parker are right on Zente's heels with five and four stolen bases respectively.
 
Masfield Takes Three: Senior Tim Mansfield has hit a triple in three of his last four games and is now tied for second in the nation. Half of Mansfield's hits this season have gone for three. He is hitting .357 over his last five games.
 
HPU Pitching Rounding Into Form: High Point has gotten four-straight outing of five or more innings and one or fewer earned runs allowed from its starting pitchers over the last week. Andre Scrubb went eight shutout innings on Saturday, Andrew Gottfried allowed one earned run in five innings on Sunday, Cooper Jeffers allowed one unearned run over 5-1/3 innings Tuesday and Michael Hennessey threw seven shutout innings on Wednesday. The Panthers team ERA has dropped from 5.29 to 3.88 over the last four games.

The Hitman Cometh: Senior Dominic Fazio has enjoyed a red-hot start to the 2016 season while starting at designated hitter for the Panthers. After serving as a bench player for most of his first three years at HPU, Fazio has started all 13 games in 2016 and is hitting a team-best .452 (19-342) with 11 walks, four doubles, a team-high 12 RBI and 10 runs scored. He has recorded multiple hits in six games and reached base safely in every game this season. Fazio is ranked in the top-10 in the Big South in batting average, hits, walks, doubles and on-base percentage.

Cozart Wins 200th Game: The Panthers' win over Wright State on Wednesday was the 200th win of head coach Craig Cozart's career.  He is now 202-204 in his eight-year career as a head coach with all eight years taking place at HPU. Cozart holds the HPU Div. I record for career wins and has guided High Point to its five winningest seasons in the Div. I era. The Panthers had never finished at or above .500 prior to Cozart's arrival, but since he took over in 2009, the team has finished .500 or better four times, including each of the past three seasons.
 
Lee Setting The Table: Hunter Lee was the quintessential leadoff man for the Panthers in the series against Marist. He went 6-9 at the plate with six walks, two doubles and four runs scored. For the season, Lee is hitting .360 with a .443 on-base percentage.
 
HPU Receives Free Passes Against UNCG: The Panthers were walked 13 times in the series finale against UNCG, matching the HPU Div. I single-game record set against Charleston Southern in 2007. The team also had three batters hit in the game. In the sixth inning, High Point scored six runs on just two hits as four players were walked and another two batters were hit.
 
Lee Ties HPU Doubles Record: Sophomore Hunter Lee began the 2016 season with three doubles on opening day against UNCG. The sophomore hit doubles to right in the first, third and sixth innings while also drawing a walk in the fourth. Lee's three doubles tied a HPU Div. I single-game record that has been achieved five other times, last by former Panther first baseman Spencer Angelis in 2012.

Greene Tabbed as Big South Preseason Player Of The Year: After a spectacular sophomore campaign, outfielder Josh Greene was named the 2016 Big South Preseason Player of the Year. Greene received four first-place votes and 19 points to finish just ahead of Campbell's Cole Hallum. The junior outfielder is the first HPU player to be named Preseason Player of the Year. Greene is a two-time All-Big South honoree and last season he led the Panthers with a .355 batting average, 37 RBI, seven home runs, 13 steals, a .441 on-base percentage and a .532 slugging percentage. In 24 conference games in 2015, he finished in the league's Top 10 for batting (.395), runs (17) and RBI (23).
 
Goodman Named to Stopper of the Year Watch List: Redshirt-senior pitcher Joe Goodman has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List for the third time. Last season, Goodman returned from Tommy John and went 0-2 with a team-high six saves for the Panthers. The right-hander made 20 appearances for HPU and finished with a 1.86 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 19-1/3 innings pitched. Goodman allowed posted a whip under 1.00, allowing just 11 hits and eight walks in his 19-1/3 innings of work. He is one of 70 players named to the watch list and one of only four from the Big South. Goodman is the first HPU player to be named to the Stopper of the Year watch list.
 
The New Guys: High Point welcomes 13 newcomers to the squad this season. HPU has nine freshmen and three junior college transfers. Juniors Luke Parker and Nick Capra and freshmen Conner Dunbar, JJ Woodard, Nick Blomgren and Nick Niarchos are expected to contribute in the field. Freshmen Andrew Gottfried and Cooper Jeffers will compete for time on the mound for the Panthers.
 
Up Next: The Panthers hit the road for the first time since opening weekend on Tuesday, March 15, when the Panthers head to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest out of the ACC. HPU is 10-27 against Wake Forest following a split last season in which both teams won on their home floor.

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