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Thursday's Starters
WU: R-Sr., LH Sam Kmiec
HPU: R-Sr., RH Scot Hoffman

Friday's Starters
WU: Sr., RH Zach Sightler
HPU: Jr., RH Andre Scrubb

Saturday's Starters
WU: TBA
HPU: Fr., RH Andrew Gottfried

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball teams returns home to host its first conference series of the season beginning on Thursday, March 24, when the Panthers face off against Winthrop. HPU started Big South play at 3-0 with a sweep at UNC Asheville.

The Series: The Panthers took two of three games at Winthrop last season and are 16-31 against the Eagles since joining Div. I in 2000. The two teams last met at Williard Stadium in 2014 when High Point swept a three-game series. Winthrop's last series win over HPU came in 2011 when the Eagles earned a road sweep at Williard.
 
The Opponent: Winthrop was picked second in the Big South in the preseason coaches' poll but the team has struggled so far this season, going 11-10 overall. The Eagles are coming into the weekend having dropped three of the past four games. The team lost two of three in a road series at Stetson then fell at home to East Tennessee State on Tuesday. Roger Gonzalez and Anthony Paulsen lead a WU offense that is hitting .291 and averaging just over seven runs per game. Gonzalez is hitting a team-best .392 with seven doubles, two home runs, a team-high 225 RBI and 19 runs scored. Paulsen is hitting .330 with five doubles, a triple and two home runs. He has 19 RBI and a team-high 28 runs scored. Redshirt-senior left-hander Sam Kmiec will start the series opener on the mound for the Eagles with senior right-hander Zach Sightler slated to start on Friday. Kmiec has made five starts in 2016 and is 3-2 with a 4.66 ERA. He has struck out 27 and walked just four in 36-2/3 innings. Sightler is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five starts. He has pitched 32-2/3 innings and struck out 19.

Probable Starting Pitcher:
•Thursday: Redshirt-senior Scot Hoffman will make his sixth start of the season for the Panthers on Thursday. Hoffman is 1-2 with a 6.38 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched. The right-hander had a career outing against UNC Asheville, matching his career-high with 6-1/3 innings pitched and striking out a career-high eight. At one point, Hoffman struck out six Bulldog batters in a row.
 
•Friday: Junior Andre Scrubb will take the mound for High Point on Friday. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 3.64 ERA. He is second in the Big South with 38 strikeouts in 29-2/3 innings pitched. Scrubb struck out a career-high 11 at UNC Asheville last weekend to earn his fourth-straight win. After struggling in his first start of 2016, Scrubb has gone 4-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 25-2/3 innings.
 
•Saturday: Freshman Andrew Gottfried will start his fourth game of the season on the mound for HPU on Saturday. The freshman is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 22 innings of work. Gottfried struck out five in four innings of work at UNC Asheville.
 
Last Time Out: The Panthers went on the road to inter-Triad rival Elon on Tuesday and left with an 8-2 win over the Phoenix. HPU scored seven runs in the fifth inning break open a 1-1 stalemate and take control of the game. Sophomore Carson Jackson provided the big hit in the inning with his first career grand slam, his third home run of the season. Jackson finished a double short of the cycle, going 3-5 with four RBI. Freshman Cooper Jeffers earned his second win of the season in his third start. The left-hander pitched six innings and allowed one unearned run on three hits and three walks while striking out six. Senior Michael Hennessey pitched the final three innings to earn his first save of the season.
 
Last Weekend: High Point earned its second-straight weekend sweep with three wins at UNC Asheville in the Panthers' first conference series of 2016. Sophomore Carson Jackson hit .500 in the three games with a double, two triples and a home run. He led the team with six RBI and four runs scored in the three games. HPU put together three-straight well-pitched games, allowing just six runs on the weekend and holding the Bulldogs to a .172 batting average. Redshirt-senior Scot Hoffman got the start on Friday and pitched 6-1/3 scoreless innings with a career-high eight strikeouts to get the win. Junior Andre Scrubb struck out a career-high 11 in 6-2/3 innings on Saturday to improve to 4-1 on the year and senior Tyler Britton came out of the pen to pitch five innings and strikeout a career-high seven on the way to the win on Sunday.

Panthers' Start Hot: At 16-5, High Point is off to its best start to a season since 1978 when the Panthers finished 32-9 in NAIA. HPU's previous high for wins at this point in the season in the Div. I era (2000-present) was 14 in 2010.
 
Jackson Just Misses Cycle...Twice: Carson Jackson finished a hit shy of the cycle in two-straight games. The first baseman was a single shy in the series finale at UNC Asheville then was short a double in the midweek contest against Elon. Jackson is hitting .353 on the season with six doubles, three triples and three home runs. He leads the Panthers with a .600 slugging percentage.
 
Jackson Named Big South Player Of The Week: Sophomore Carson Jackson earned his first Big South Player of the Week nod on March 21 after helping High Point grab a road sweep at UNC Asheville in its first conference series of the season. Jackson went 8-18 at the plate with a double, two triples and a home run as High Point went 3-1, including a three-game sweep on the road at UNC Asheville to open Big South play. He led the Panthers with six RBI and four runs scored and stole his sixth base of the season. He is the first HPU player to earn Big South Player of the Week honors since Dane McDermott on April 7, 2014.
 
Panthers Running Wild: High Point has stolen 49 bases through the first 21 games of the season and entered the week tied for first in the nation along with Xavier. The Panthers are on pace to break the HPU Div. I single-season record of 123 stolen bases set in 2010. Austin Zente stole seven bags in the series against Wright State and Dayton and now leads the Big South with 13 on the season, which ranked 10th nationally. Junior Chris Clare and sophomore Hunter Lee are right on Zente's heels with eight and seven stolen bases respectively.

Cluth at the Plate: The High Point offense has risen to the occasion when it puts runners on this season. The Panthers are hitting .327 with runners on base and an impressive .484 (15-31) with the bases loaded. The team is also hitting .344 with runners in scoring position and .641 with a runner on third and less than two outs. Dominic Fazio and Carson Jackson are both hitting .500 (14-28) with runners in scoring position and freshman JJ Woodard is hitting .571 (8-14).
 
HPU Pitching Rounding Into Form: After struggling on the mound to start the season, High Point has turned it around in March, posting a 2.49 team ERA and holding opponents to a .216 batting average. The Panthers have three shutouts in the month against Dayton, La Salle and UNC Asheville and have held opponents to two or fewer runs in eight of 15 games. Andre Scrubb in 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 20-2/3 innings over three starts in the month while Tyler Britton has pitched very well out of the pen with a 3-0 record and a 2.20 ERA in four appearances. The right-hander has 21 strikeouts in 16-1/3 innings of work.

Freshmen Planting Flag On Mound: Freshman pitchers Andrew Gottfried and Cooper Jeffers have both made a big impression in their first season with the Panthers, claiming spots in the HPU starting lineup. Gottfried joined the weekend rotation against Dayton and is 1-1 in three starts with a 2.81 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 16 innings. Against Rider, the right-hander went a career-high seven innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits and a walk while striking out a career-high six. Jeffers has fared just as well in three midweek starts for HPU, going 2-0 with a 0.52 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 17-1/3 innings of work. The left-hander pitched six innings and struck out seven while giving up just two hits against Wright State in his first career start.
 
The Hitman Cometh: Senior Dominic Fazio has become a staple in the High Point lineup, starting all 21 games for the Panthers this season. After serving as a bench player for his first three years at HPU, Fazio is hitting .370 with six doubles, 16 walks and 18 RBI. He has recorded multiple hits in eight games and reached base safely in all but one game this season.

Mansfield Takes Three: Senior Tim Mansfield is tied for ninth in the nation with four triples on the season. He hit a triple in three consecutive games from March 4-8 with one in each of the Panthers' final two games against Dayton then one in the midweek season opener against La Salle. His fourth came against Elon on March 22.
 
Cozart Wins 200th Game: The Panthers' win over Wright State on March 2 was the 200th win of head coach Craig Cozart's career.  He is now 211-206 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 .337 with a .420 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 Named 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.
 
Up Next: High Point will head to Raleigh on Tuesday, March 29, to take on North Carolina Central in midweek action at 6 p.m. HPU is 4-0 against the Eagles in the Div. I era (2000-present). Last season, the Panthers picked up a 5-0 win over NC Central at Williard Stadium.

#GoHPU