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Wednesday's Starters
UNCW: So., RH Justin Crump
HPU: Fr., LH Cooper Jeffers

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team will welcome UNC Wilmington to Williard Stadium for a midweek contest on Wednesday, April 13, at 6 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the Panthers and Seahawks since 2003.

The Series: HPU is just 1-6 against UNC Wilmington in the Div. I era (2000-present). The Panthers' only win over Wilmington came in 2001 when they picked up a 6-4 win at home.
 
The Opponent: UNC Wilmington has enjoyed a successful 2016 season as the Seahawks enter Wednesday's contest with a 19-9 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the Colonial. Wilmington is one of the top offensive teams that High Point will face this season, averaging over eight runs a game and hitting an impressive .303 as a team. Six UNCW players are hitting over .300 on the season, including Steven Linkous who is at .402 with a team-high 36 runs scored. Nick Feight is second on the team with a .358 batting average and he leads the Seahawks with 10 home runs and 46 RBI. Brian Mims is the third head of UNC Wilmington's offensive hydra, hitting .351 with 27 RBI and 34 runs scored.  The Seahawks are 1-1 against Big South opponents this season with a loss against Coastal Carolina and a win over Campbell. Sophomore right-hander Justin Crump will start for Wilmington on the mound against HPU. Crump is 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA with eight strikeouts in 17 innings over six appearances.

Probable Starting Pitcher:
•Wednesday: Freshman Cooper Jeffers will try to bounce back from his outing against North Carolina when he takes the mound against UNC Wilmington on Wednesday. The left-hander has appeared in five games with four starts this season and is 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 20-2/3 innings pitched.

HPU Vs. CAA: High Point is 27-37 against teams currently in the Colonial Athletic Association during the HPU Div. I era (2000-present). High Point has played Elon the most out of all teams in the Colonial, facing off against Phoenix 38 times and going 16-22 in those contests. High Point and Elon met earlier this season with the Panthers taking an 8-2 road win, giving them a 1-0 record against the CAA this season.
 
Last Weekend: High Point claimed its seventh-straight weekend series, taking two of three games from Longwood at Williard Stadium. The Panthers dropped the first game by a score of 4-3 but bounced back with a 7-2 win on Saturday and a 2-1 win in the rubber game on Sunday. Junior Chris Clare led the HPU effort at the plate, going 6-8 with two walks and three runs scored. High Point's pitching performed well in all three games, allowing just seven runs on the weekend while striking out 34 in 27 innings. Redshirt-senior Scot Hoffman carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning on Friday, junior Andre Scrubb pitched eight innings and allowed just three hits while matching his career high with 11 strikeouts and freshman Andrew Gottfried matched his career high with seven innings pitched and allowed one earned run.

Clare Named Big South Player of the Week: Junior Chris Clare was a key contributor to High Point's seventh-straight series win, as the junior finished 9-for-11 (.818) at the plate in four games with three runs scored and a pair of RBI. The infielder headlined his week with two 3-for-3 performances, including a perfect mark against No. 11 North Carolina on Tuesday. In the series win over Longwood, he finished 6-for-8 (.750) with three runs scored, two walks and a stolen base.

HPU Pitchers Sitting People Down: All three members of the Panthers' weekend rotaion set or matched their career highs in strikeouts against Longwood. Scot Hoffman matched his career high with eight strikeouts on Friday, Andre Scrubb tied his career high with 11 strikeouts on Saturday and Andrew Gottfried set a new career high with seven strikeouts on Sunday.
 
HPU Off To Best Start In Div. I History: At 22-10, 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 18 in 2014 when the team posted its best record in the Div. I era at 33-22.
 
Panthers Running Wild: High Point has stolen 60 bases so far this season, which ranks second in the Big South and ninth in the nation. Austin Zente leads the Big South with 20 steals on the season, which puts him tied for 12th nationally. Chris Clare (9) is also in the top 10 in the Big South in steals while Hunter Lee (8) and Carson Jackson (7) are just outside the top 10. 

Britton Lights Out: Britton has been one of the Panthers' best pitchers this season and the top arm out of the bullpen. The right-hander has appeared in 10 games and is 5-1 with a 2.04 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 35-1/3 innings pitched. He is currently second in the Big South in ERA (2.04), tied for third in wins and fifth in opponent batting average (.215). Against Maryland, Britton pitched 4-1/3 innings to earn the win in the series finale. He allowed just one walk and struck out three in the one-run win.
 
HPU Pitching Rounds Into Form: After struggling on the mound to start the season, High Point turned it around in March, posting a 3.14 team ERA and holding opponents to a .226 batting average. The Panthers had three shutouts in the month against Dayton, La Salle and UNC Asheville and held opponents to two or fewer runs in 10 games. High Point is currently first in the Big South with a 3.82 ERA and a .241 opponent batting average.

The Hitman Cometh: Senior Dominic Fazio has become a staple in the High Point lineup, starting all 32 games for the Panthers this season. After serving as a bench player for his first three years at HPU, Fazio is hitting .330 with nine doubles, 20 walks and a team-high 24 RBI. He has recorded multiple hits in 11 games and reached base safely in all but four games. Fazio's 37 hits in 2016 is six more than he had in his first three years combined.

Mansfield Takes Three: Senior Tim Mansfield is second in the Big South and tied for 17th 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.
 
Scrubb's March Madness: Andre Scrubb was dominant on the mound in March, going 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA in 27-2/3 innings. The right-hander held opponents to a .149 batting average while striking out 38 batters. He recorded two double-digit strikeout games, including a career-high 11 at UNC Asheville.
 
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 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.
 
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 217-211 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.
 
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.
 
Up Next: High Point will travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., this weekend for a three-game series against the Runnin' Bulldogs of Boiling Springs. The Panthers hold a slim 11-10 advantage over GWU in 21 games since joining Div. I in 2000. The two teams last met in 2014 when High Point pulled out a 2- 1 win in 11 innings in a non-conference game at Elon.

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