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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team returns to action with a midweek contest at Davidson on Wednesday, May 3, at 6 p.m. The game will be the first of two between the Panthers and Wildcats this season.

The Series: High Point split its two meetings with Davidson last season with both teams winning on their home fields. The Panthers are 7-2 against Davidson in the Div. I era (2000-present).
 
The Opponent: Davidson is enters the week at .500 on the season with a 22-22 overall record and a 9-9 mark in the Atlantic 10. The Wildcats dropped two of three games at Saint Louis over the weekend, picking up a 1-0 win on Saturday. First-baseman Brian Fortier has started every game for Davidson this season and is leading the team with a .337 batting average and 30 runs scored. Jake Sidwell is the only other Wildcat hitter batting over .300 at .328 while Sam Foy is hitting .273 with a team-high 11 extra-base hits and 27 RBI.
 
HPU vs. A10: The Panthers are 4-1 against teams for the Atlantic 10 this season and are now 24-18 against teams currently in the conference in the Div. I era (2000-present). High Point took two of three games against Dayton then swept a midweek series against La Salle in March.
 
Last Time Out: High Point fell to 0-2 in two games against UNC Wilmington with an 11-6 road loss on Wednesday. The Panthers fell behind 9-0 through five innings before scoring three times in the sixth on sacrifice flies by Luke Parker and Spencer Brown  and an error and once in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Austen Zente. After the Seahawks scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, Zente hit a two-run home run, his second of the season, in the ninth.  

HPU Off To Best Start In Div. I History: At 26-16, 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 25 in 2014 when the team posted its best record in the Div. I era at 33-22.
 
Clare Leading The Way: Junior Chris Clare has emerged as the Panthers' top offensive performer this season. The shortstop leads the teams with a .364 batting average, 59 hits, 31 runs scored and 13 doubles. He also has 22 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 14 attempts. Clare has 11 more hits than Carson Jackson, who is second on the team with 48.
 
Panthers Running Wild: High Point has stolen 68 bases so far this season, which ranks 28th in the nation. Austin Zente leads the Big South with 21 steals on the season, which puts him 30th nationally. Chris Clare (10) is also in the top 10 in the Big South in steals while Hunter Lee (9), Carson Jackson (8) and Tim Mansfield (8) are just outside the top 10. 


Scrubb Among Nation's K/9 Leaders: Andre Scrubb is first in the Big South and 13th in the nation with 12.02 strikeouts per nine innings. He has struck out 73 in 54-2/3 innings. The junior right-hander has struck out at least eight in six of his last eight starts and is holding opponents to a .221 batting average on the season.
 
The Hitman Cometh: Senior Dominic Fazio has become a staple in the High Point lineup, starting all 42 games for the Panthers this season. After serving as a bench player for his first three years at HPU, Fazio is hitting .317 with 13 doubles and a team-high 28 walks and 29 RBI. He has recorded multiple hits in 12 games and reached base safely in all but five games. Fazio's 45 hits in 2016 is 14 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 4-3 with a 3.28 ERA. He has held opponents to a .239 batting average and just five doubles and one home run in 49-1/3 innings. 

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 221-217 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 hosts Radford in a three-game conference series starting on Friday, May 5. The Panthers went 1-3 against Radford last season, dropping two of three on the road during the regular season and falling by a score of 4-0 in the Big South Tournament. High Point is 28-23 against the Highlanders in the Div. I era (2000-present).

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