LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO (Sunday)
GAME NOTES (PDF)

Saturday's Starters
HPU: R-Sr., RH Scot Hoffman
CCU: Jr., RH Alex Cunningham

Sunday's Starters
HPU: Jr., RH Andre Scrubb
CCU: So., RH Bobby Holmes

Monday's Starters
HPU: Fr., RH Andrew Gottfried
CCU: TBA

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team travels to Conway, S.C., this weekend to face off with #21 Coastal Carolina in a three-game series between the top two teams in the Big South standings. The series will begin on Saturday, April 23, at 2 p.m.

The Series: 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.
 
The Opponent: Coastal Carolina is 29-10 overall and 11-1 in the Big South. The Chanticleers enter the weekend having won nine straight, including midweek wins over North Carolina and the College of Charleston. CCU features a dangerous offense with a team batting average of .308 and 50 home runs in 39 games. Connor Owings is hitting .400 with 21 extra-base hits, including nine home runs, 34 RBI and 32 runs scores. G.K. Young is hitting .365 and is tops on the team with 43 RBI. Michael Paez leads the team with 39 runs scored and is tied with Young, Owings and Zach Remillard for the team lead in home runs. Right-handers Alex Cunningham and Bobby Holmes will start the first two games of the series for the Chanticleers. Cunningham is 6-1 with a 3.97 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 56-2/3 innings pitched. Holmes has made 11 appearances and four starts on the season and is 3-1 with a 4.87 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 40-2/3 innings. The Coastal Carolina bullpen has been very strong this season, led by Andrew Beckwith who has made 14 appearances and is 6-1 with a 1.81 ERA.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers:
• Saturday: Redshirt-senior right-hander Scot Hoffman will make his 10th start of the season for the Panthers in the series opener on Saturday. Hoffman is 3-3 on the season with a 4.69 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 48 innings. He has been very good in conference play, going 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 24-2/3 innings pitched. Against Gardner-Webb, Hoffman pitched 6-1/3 innings and allowed four earned runs. He departed the game having allowed just two earned runs but two inherited runners both scored after he was removed.

• Sunday: Junior right-hander Andre Scrubb will get the ball for his ninth start of the season on Sunday. He has been one of the top pitchers in the Big South this season, going 6-3 with a 3.78 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 52-1/3 innings. Scrubb took the loss against Gardner-Webb despite allowing just three runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. The right-hander has struck out at least eight in six of his last seven starts. He is second in the Big South in strikeouts and fourth in the conference in opponent batting average (.201).
 
• Monday: Freshman right-hander Andrew Gottfried will take the mound in the series finale for his eighth start of the season. He is 4-2 on the season with a 2.86 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 44 innings. Gottfried picked up the win at Gardner-Webb after allowing one unearned run in seven innings against the Runnin' Bulldogs. In four Big South starts, Gottfried is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 21-1/3 innings.
 
Last Time Out: High Point polished off a 2-0 midweek with a 5-1 win at home over #20 East Carolina on Wednesday. Senior Michael Hennessey got the start and matched his career high with seven innings pitched. He allowed just one earned run on four hits and three walks while striking out five. Six of the Panthers' 13 hits in the contest went for extra bases, including two by junior Luke Parker who went 3-4 with a double, a triple, an RBI and a runs scored. Junior Chris Clare went 2-3 with a run scored, sophomore Carson Jackson went 2-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored and sophomore Austen Zente went 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Redshirt-senior Joe Goodman got the final four outs, three by strikeout, to earn his team-best fourth save of the season.
 
Last Weekend: The Panthers dropped their first weekend series in Big South play and their 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 25-13, High Point is off to its best start to a season since 1979 when the Panthers finished 38-15-1 and were NAIA National Runners-Up. HPU's previous high for wins at this point in the season in the Div. I era (2000-present) was 22 in 2014 when the team posted its best record in the Div. I era at 33-22.
 
Panthers Running Wild: High Point has stolen 68 bases so far this season, which ranks 15th in the nation and is one behind conference leaders Coastal Carolina and Campbell. 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 (8) are just outside the top 10. 

Scrubb Among Nation's K/9 Leaders: Andre Scrubb is first in the Big South and 16th in the nation with 11.87 strikeouts per nine innings. He has struck out 69 in 52-1/3 innings. The junior right-hander has struck out at least eight in six of his last seven starts and is holding opponents to a .201 batting average on the season.
 
The Hitman Cometh: Senior Dominic Fazio has become a staple in the High Point lineup, starting all 38 games for the Panthers this season. After serving as a bench player for his first three years at HPU, Fazio is hitting .326 with 12 doubles and a team-high 25 walks and 27 RBI. He has recorded multiple hits in 12 games and reached base safely in all but five games. Fazio's 42 hits in 2016 is 11 more than he had in his first three years combined.

Gottfried Excelling In Freshman Campaign: Andrew Gottfried has been one of the top freshmen in the Big South this season, appearing in nine games with seven starts and going 4-2 with a team-best 2.86 ERA. He has held opponents to a .236 batting average and just five doubles in 44 innings. Gottfried is third amongst Big South freshmen in innings pitched and second in ERA.

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 220-214 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.
 
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 Enjoys Bounce Back March: 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.
 
Mansfield Takes Three: Senior Tim Mansfield is third 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.
 
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 play its fourth-straight road game on Wednesday, April 27, against UNC Wilmington in the final game before the team takes a break for finals. The Panthers lost a home game to UNCW on April 13 by a score of 5-1 and are now just 1-7 against the Seahawks in the Div. I era (2000-present).

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