LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
GAME NOTES

Friday Starters:
Army: Jr., LH Jeremy Mortensen
HPU: So., RH Andrew Gottfried

Saturday Starters:
Army: So., LH Tyler Giovinvo
HPU: Fr., RH Trevor Holloway

Sunday Starters:
Army: Jr., LH Daniel Gibbons
HPU: Fr., RH Drew Daczkowski

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team will host its second weekend series of the season as the team welcomes Army to Williard Stadium for a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 3, at 4 p.m.

The Series: This weekend's series is the first meeting between High Point and Army since 2012 when HPU took two of three games in a season-opening series at Williard Stadium.

The Opponent: Army sits at 2-5 for the season after dropping two of three games at Duke last weekend. The Knights have hit just .212 as a team and are averaging 4.1 runs per game. Alex Dickerson is hitting a team-high .381 and he leads Army with 12 RBI. He has three of the Knight's 15 extra-base hits on the season, including one of their two home runs. The only other two players with multiple extra-base hits are Kris Lindner and Jon Rosoff who are both hitting .304. Lindner leads the team with four doubles and Rosoff has three doubles. Army will throw three left-handers on the weekend starting with Jeremy Mortensen on Friday. Mortensen is 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched on the season. Tyler Giovinco will pitch for the Knights on Saturday followed by Daniel Gibbons on Sunday. Giovinco is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two starts while Gibbons is 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA and a team-high 10 strikeouts in 10-2/3 innings over two starts.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers:
• Friday: Sophomore right-hander Andrew Gottfried will once again lead the HPU rotation on the weekend with his third Friday start of the season. Gottfried is 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA in 11.0 innings of work. The sophomore took a no decision at Stetson after allowing two runs, one earned on three hits and two walks while striking out four in six innings.
 
• Saturday: Freshman right-hander Trevor Holloway bounced back from a difficult collegiate debut with a strong start at Stetson and will once again take the mound on Saturday. Holloway is 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA and six strikeouts in 8-2/3 innings of work. He pitched 5-2/3 scoreless innings at Stetson and  struck out three Hatters. 
 
• Sunday: Freshman right-hander Drew Daczkowski will round out the HPU rotation for the weekend. The freshman is 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 8-1/3 innings of work over two starts. He took a hard-luck loss at Stetson after allowing just one unearned run in six innings. The right-hander gave up just four hits and two walks and struck out four.
 
HPU vs. the Patriot League: High Point is 4-2 in the Div. I era against teams currently in the Patriot League. In addition to the series win against Army in 2012, the Panthers took two of three games against Lafayette in 2007 at Williard Stadium.
 
Last Time Out: High Point fell to 4-4 on the season with an 11-5 loss at home against NC Central on Tuesday, the Panthers' third-straight defeat. High Point scored two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth to tie the game at 5-5 but NC Central rallied with six runs in the top of the ninth, all with two outs. Junior Carson Jackson went 2-5 with a double and two runs scored and sophomore Conner Dunbar finished 2-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored.
 
Last Weekend: High Point dropped its first series of 2017 over the weekend, losing two of three at Stetson. The Panthers started the weekend with a 5-4 win in 10 innings on Friday but dropped two one-run games on Saturday and Sunday, first losing, 5-4 in 10 innings then 1-0 in the rubber game. High Point got strong starting pitching performances in all three contests. Sophomore Andrew Gottfried went six innings and allowed two runs, one earned on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts, freshman Trevor Holloway pitched 5-2/3 shutout innings, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out three and freshman Drew Daczkowski pitched six innings and allowed just one unearned run on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
 
Start'em Young: The High Point pitching staff has relied on youth this season as underclassmen have pitched 80.2 percent of the innings for the Panthers in 2017. All seven games have been started by underclassmen including two each by freshmen Trevor Holloway and Drew Daczkowski and one by freshman Garret Letchworth. In the series against Stetson, underclassmen combined to throw 24 out of a possible 28 innings and allowed just eight runs, five earned on 13 hits and 11 walks while striking out 17.
 
Power Surge: High Point has shown much more pop at the plate this season with 10 home runs in seven games, second in the Big South. The Panthers are on an early pace to hit 80 home runs which would blow away the program Div. I record of 56 and also beat the all-time record of 77 set in 1975. Junior Carson Jackson leads the Big South with four home runs while fellow junior Austen Zente is tied for second with three.
 
Carson Jackson Named National POW: Junior Carson Jackson was named one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week on Feb. 20 after helping to lead the Panthers to a weekend series win over NJIT. Jackson went 5-11 at the plate with three home runs, five RBI and five runs scored. He had two home runs in High Point's come-from-behind win on Sunday making him the 15th player in HPU's Div. I history to record a multi-HR game.
 
Panthers launch four HRs in series finale vs. NJIT: High Point hit four home runs in the come-from-behind win over NJIT on Sunday. It was the most home runs in a game by the Purple & White since 2010 and one shy of the Panthers' Div. I single-game record. Junior Carson Jackson had two home runs and juniors Jordan Sergent and Austen Zente both had one. All six High Point runs in the game came by way of the long ball, including two on Zente's home run in the eighth inning that put HPU in front.
 
HPU in Season Openers: With the win over NJIT in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, HPU improved to 6-12 in season openers since joining Division I in 2000, with a 5-3 record in season openers at Williard Stadium.
 
Gottfried Sole All-Conference Survivor: Andrew Gottfried is the only Big South All-Conference pitcher from last season to return in 2017. Gottfried was named second-team All-Big South after finishing the 2016 season with a 6-5 record and a 2.65 ERA. He had 48 strikeouts in 71-1/3 innings and held opponents to a .238 batting average. The right-hander allowed just 12 extra base hits all season and finished his freshman campaign with a 1.14 WHIP.
 
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.
 
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 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.
 
Up Next: High Point heads back out on the road next weekend when the Panthers head to Georgia for a three-game set at Kennesaw State starting on Friday, March 10. The three-game set will mark the first meeting between the two teams in the HPU Div. I era.