LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
GAME NOTES
2017 PROSPECTUS & RECORD BOOK

Saturday Game One Starters:
NJIT: Jr., RH Johnny Malatesta
HPU: So., RH Andrew Gottfried
 
Saturday Game Two Starters:
NJIT: Jr., RH Sean Lubreski
HPU: Fr., RH Trevor Holloway

Sunday Starters:
NJIT: Fr., RH Tyler Stafflinger
HPU: Fr., RH Drew Daczkowski

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team begins the 2017 season with a three-game home stand against NJIT starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Williard Stadium. First pitch for the season is set for 1 p.m., and the second game will start 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Admission to both games will be free.
 
The Opponent: NJIT finished the 2016 season with a 17-36 overall record and a 2-18 record in its first season as part of the Atlantic Sun. The Titans were picked to finish eighth out of the eight teams in the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll. NJIT returns 25 of the 28 players that saw time in 2016 including junior outfielder Evan Pietronico who led the Titans with a .304 batting average and 44 RBI as a sophomore. Pietronico led the ASUN in doubles with 21 and finished with a .475 slugging percentage. Redshirt-junior Jesse Uttendorfer also returns in the outfield after leading NJIT with 13 stolen bases last season while also hitting .274 and scoring 34 runs. One newcomer to keep an eye on is freshman first baseman Alex Burman who was ranked as the No. 3 first baseman in Pennsylvania by Perfect Game. Junior Johnny Malatesta will spearhead the NJIT rotation this weekend. The right-hander appeared in 11 games with eight starts in 2016 and finished with a 2-4 record and a 4.46 ERA while pitching 40-1/3 innings. Junior right-hander Sean Lubreski will pitch for the Titans in the second game on Saturday followed by freshman right-hander Tyler Stafflinger on Sunday. Lubreski started 14 games as a sophomore, finishing with a 4-9 record and a 5.45 ERA while striking out 45 in 79-1/3 innings. Stefflinger graduated from Manalapan High School in New Jersey and posted a 2.10 ERA in his senior season.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers:
• Friday: Sophomore right-hander Andrew Gottfried will get the ball for the Panthers in the season opener on Saturday. The second-team All-Big South selection and Freshman All-American appeared in 14 games with 11 starts as a freshman. He finished with a 6-5 record and led all HPU starters with a 2.65 ERA. Gottfried got better as the season went on, going over six innings and allowing two or fewer runs in five of his last six starts.
 
• Saturday: Freshman right-hander Trevor Holloway will make his HPU debut in the second game on Saturday. Holloway graduated from Venice High School in Venice, Fla. He finished his senior season with a 9-2 record and a 1.28 ERA while striking out 79 in 60 innings. Holloway is a 2016 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American and a second-team All-Region selection for Florida.
 
• Sunday: Freshman right-hander Drew Daczkowski will round out the High Point weekend rotation when he takes the mound on Sunday. Daczkowski comes to the Panthers from Potomac Falls High School in Sterling, Va. He is a 2016 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American and was a second-team All-Conference selection as a senior.
 
Panthers in Season Openers: HPU is 5-12 in season openers since joining Division I in 2000, with a 4-3 record in season openers at Williard Stadium. Last season, the Panthers lost at home to UNCG by a score of 9-3 in the first game of a season-opening home-and-home weekend series. Hunter Lee went 3-4 with three doubles and a walk for High Point and Dominic Fazio went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Purple & White Picked First: For the first time in program history, the Panthers have been picked first in the Big South Preseason Coaches Poll. High Point received four first-place votes and 92 total points to finish atop the preseason poll. The previous high for HPU in the preseason poll was second place in 2015. The Panthers were followed in the poll by Campbell, Liberty and Winthrop.
 
Jackson Streaking into the Season: Junior Carson Jackson enters the 2017 season on a seven-game hit streak. The outfielder hit .400 (12-30) in those seven games with two doubles, one home run, nine RBI and seven runs scored.
 
Terrors on the Basepaths: High Point stole 85 bases in 2016, the third-most in a single season in the programs Div. I history. Austen Zente led the team with 26 stolen bases, the third-most for a player in the Div. I era and 10th most in a season in all-time. Three other High Point players recorded double digit steals as Hunter Lee stole 14 bags, Chris Clare stole 11 and Tim Mansfield swiped 10. Every starter for the Purple & White stole at least one base last season except for Drew Fopeano.
 
K Kings: The Panthers set a new program record for strikeouts in a season with 440 punch outs in 492 innings last season. Both Andre Scrubb and Tyler Britton struck out more than a batter per innings as Scrubb had 94 strikeouts in 74 innings and Britton had 59 strikeouts in 55-1/3 innings.
 
The New Guys: High Point welcomes 15 newcomers this season comprised of 10 freshmen and five junior College transfers. Several of the newcomers are expected to have an immediate impact. Freshmen Trevor Holloway and Drew Daczkowski will start the season in the weekend rotation and junior college transfers Zack Gray, Ryan Mason and Jordan Sergent are all expected to be in the lineup on Saturday. Junior Rion Murrah and freshman Grey Lyttle will both be key late inning relievers who will compete for the closer job.
 
Long Joins HPU Staff: Pat Long joined the HPU baseball staff as the the new volunteer assistant coach in August of 2016. Long served as the volunteer assistant at UT-Martin for the 2015 and 2016 seasons during which time he oversaw the instruction of the outfielders and hitters. Long played for seasons of collegiate baseball at Georgia Tech from 2007-2010 as an infielder and right-handed pitcher. He played in 150 games with 95 career starts and finished his collegiate career hitting .275 with 44 RBI and 80 runs scored. On the mound, Long appeared in 38 games and went 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched.
 
Last Season: High Point posted its third-straight winning season and its fourth since joining Div. I. The Panthers finished 32-24 overall and 14-10 in the Big South, tying for second in the conference. The Purple & White claimed weekend series wins over Marist, Dayton, Rider, UNC Asheville, Winthrop, Maryland, Longwood, Radford and Liberty as well as midweek series against Wright State and La Salle. High Point hit 30 home runs as a team, the most since 2010 and set a new program single-season record with 440 strikeouts.

Pipeline to the Pros: Three members of the 2016 HPU baseball team were drafted to MLB in June giving the Panthers 11 MLB draftees in eight seasons under head coach Craig Cozart. Scrubb was drafted in the eighth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Clare was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 21st round and Britton was drafted in the 23rd round by the Houston Astros. 
 
Allen Reaches World Series with Indians: Former HPU pitcher Cody Allen enjoyed a banner season with the Cleveland Indians in 2016, helping the club reach the World Series. Allen finished the 2016 regular season with a 3-5 record and 32 saves. He appeared in 67 games and posted a 2.51 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 68 innings. In the playoffs, Allen had a 0.00 ERA in 10 postseason games with 24 strikeouts in 13-2/3 innings.
 
Up Next: HPU hits the road for the first time in 2017 on Tuesday, Feb. 21, when the team heads to Davidson, N.C., to take on the Wildcats of Davidson College. The Panthers dropped their only game against Davidson last season with a 6-5 road loss in 10 innings.  

#GoHPU