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Tuesday's Starters
Elon: R-Sr., RH Joe McGillicuddy
HPU: Fr., LH Cooper Jeffers

Wednesday's Starters
ECU: TBA
HPU: Sr., RH Michael Hennessey

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team returns home this week for a pair of midweek contests against Elon and East Carolina at Williard Stadium. The Panthers will host the Phoenix on Tuesday, April 19, at 6 p.m., and the Pirates on Wednesday, April 20, at 6 p.m.

Series: The Panthers are 16-22 against Elon with an 8-2 road win over the Phoenix earlier this season. HPU is 4-6 in 10 meetings against East Carolina in the Div. I era (2000-present).

Elon: Elon is 15-21 overall and 7-7 in the Colonial this season. The Phoenix are coming off a home sweep of Towson over the weekend and have won five of their last six games heading into Tuesday's matchup. Elon has struggled at the plate, hitting .258 as a team. Tyler McVicar leads the team with a .305 batting average and is the only Phoenix player above .300 on the season. Kyle Jackson is hitting .299 with a team-high nine home runs, 31 RBI and 32 runs scored. Joe McGillicuddy will start on the mound for Elon on Tuesday. McGillicuddy, twin brother of former HPU ace John McGillicuddy, is 0-2 with a 12.86 ERA and eight strikeouts in seven innings of work this season.

East Carolina: East Carolina enters the week with a 23-12 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the American. The Pirates feature a dangerous offense that is hitting .305 as a team with seven different players batting over .300. The pair of Eric Tyler and Travis Watkins are the catalyst of the ECU offense as Tyler is tops on the team with four home runs and 27 RBI and Watkins has hit a team-high 13 doubles and scored a team-best 24 runs.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers:
• Tuesday: Freshman Cooper Jeffers will make his sixth start of the season for the Panthers against Elon on Tuesday. Jeffers is 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 24-2/3 innings of work during his freshman campaign. The left-hander pitched four innings against UNC Wilmington in his last start and allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits and a walk while striking out six.

• Wednesday: Senior Michael Hennessey will take the mound against East Carolina in his fifth start of the season. The right-hander is 2-2 with a 6.91 ERA in 28.2 innings. He has struck out 25 while only walking nine on the season. Hennessey performed well in starts against Wright State and La Salle earlier this season, going seven innings and striking out six to earn the win in both affairs.
 
HPU Vs. CAA: High Point is 27-38 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. High Point is 1-1 against the CAA this season with an 8-2 win at Elon and a 5-1 loss at home against UNC Wilmington.
 
HPU Vs. The American: The Panthers are 11-15 against teams currently in the American Athletics Conference in the HPU Div. I era. High Point has faced East Carolina the most among schools in the American and is 4-6 against the Pirates. Last season, the Panthers went 2-2 against the conference, winning one of three at South Florida and their lone game against ECU in Greenville, N.C.
 
Last Weekend: High Point dropped its first weekend series in Big South play and its first series since opening weekend, losing two of three games at Gardner-Webb. HPU lost the first two games by scores of 9-0 and 3-1 before picking up a 5-2 win in the series finale. Junior Chris Clare continued his strong play, getting a hit in all three games, including a solo home run on Saturday. Senior Dominic Fazio led the Panthers with a .375 batting average in the series, going 3-8 with a double and two RBI. Freshman Andrew Gottfried picked up his fourth win of the season on Sunday. The right-hander pitched 6-2/3 innings and allowed just one unearned run on six hits and two walks while striking out three.
 
HPU Off To Best Start In Div. I History: At 23-13, 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 20 in 2014 when the team posted its best record in the Div. I era at 33-22.
 
Panthers Running Wild: High Point has stolen 64 bases so far this season, which ranks 18th in the nation. Austin Zente leads the Big South with 21 steals on the season, which puts him tied for 14th nationally. Chris Clare (10) is also in the top 10 in the Big South in steals while Hunter Lee (9) 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 11 games and is 5-1 with a 2.15 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 37-2/3 innings pitched. He is currently third in the Big South in ERA, tied for sixth in wins and sixth in opponent batting average (.216). 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.
 
The Hitman Cometh: Senior Dominic Fazio has become a staple in the High Point lineup, starting all 36 games for the Panthers this season. After serving as a bench player for his first three years at HPU, Fazio is hitting .331 with 10 doubles, 23 walks and a team-high 26 RBI. He has recorded multiple hits in 11 games and reached base safely in all but four games. Fazio's 40 hits in 2016 is nine more than he had in his first three years combined.

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.

Weekend Rotation K Party: All three members of the Panthers' weekend rotation 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 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.

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 218-214 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 face off with Coastal Carolina in a three-game series between the top two teams in the Big South starting on Friday, April 22, in Conway, S.C. The Panthers are 10-37 against CCU in the Div. I era. Last season, HPU dropped four games to the Chanticleers as the team was swept in the regular season and lost again in the conference tournament.

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