LIVE STATS
GAME NOTES (PDF)

Wednesday's Starters
HPU: So., LH Cooper Jeffers
NCCU: Sr., RH Chris Gonnelli

HIGH POINT, N.C. –  The High Point University baseball team heads to Durham, N.C., on Wednesday, March 29, for a midweek road contest against NC Central at Durham Athletic Park. The Panthers will try and even the season series against Central with a road win over the Eagles.
 
History vs. NC Central: High Point is 4-2 against NC Central in the Div. I era after falling to the Eagles by a score of 11-5 earlier this season at Williard Stadium. High Point's last win over the Eagles came in 2015 and the Panthers' last win at Durham Athletic Park was back in 2013.
 
The Opponent: NC Central comes into Wednesday's contest with a 13-12 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the MEAC. The Eagles are hitting .312 as a team and averaging nearly seven runs per game this season. Four different Central players are batting over.350 led by Ellington Hopkins who is hitting .414 with 18 runs scored. Eagles' leadoff hitter Carter Williams has started every game this season and is hitting .381 with 12 RBI and a team-high 21 runs scored. Corey Joyce is hitting .366 with a team-high 10 extra-base hits and 27 RBI. Right-hander Chris Gonnelli will start on the mound for the Eagles on Wednesday. He has four starts on the season and is 0-2 with a 10.34 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 15-2/3 innings.

Last Time vs. NC Central: High Point fell to NC Central by a score of 11-5 loss at Williard Stadium on Feb. 28. 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.
 
HPU vs. MEAC: High Point is 25-13 in the Div. I era against schools currently in the MEAC. The Panthers are 0-1 against the MEAC this season with a loss against NC Central and will play three more games against MEAC opponents.

Probable Starting Pitchers:
• Wednesday: Sophomore left-hander Cooper Jeffers will make his second start of the season for the Panthers this season. Jeffers has appeared in six games and is 0-2 with a 9.95 ERA and three strikeouts in 6-1/3 innings of work.
 
Last Time Out: High Point fell at home to Elon by a score of 14-8 on Tuesday. The Panthers fell behind by a score of 7-0 after 3-1/2 innings and 13-1 after five but outscored the Phoenix, 7-1, over the final four innings. Junior Austen Zente finished 3-5 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored while senior Josh Greene reached base four times, going 2-3 with two walks.

Last Weekend: High Point was swept over the weekend in a three-game road series at Winthrop. The Panthers dropped the first game by a score of 7-3 then were swept in a Saturday doubleheader, losing by scores of 12-5 and 4-0. Junior Blake Schunk was 5-12 (.417) with a double and a team-high two RBI while senior Josh Greene went 4-10 (.400) with two doubles and a run scored. In the series finale, freshman Trevor Holloway turned in his best start of the season with a career-high seven innings of work. The right-hander allowed just two earned runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five in a tough-luck loss.

Greene Reemerging: Senior Josh Greene has started each of the past 13 games and is hitting .353 (18-51) with three home runs,  11 RBI and nine runs scored in those games. He has a team-high seven extra-base hits during that span and hit a home run three-straight games for the Panthers with two at Kennesaw State and another at home against Wake Forest.

Fireman Hodges: Sophomore left-hander Matt Hodges has become one of the Panthers' top relievers in his second year with the club, appearing in a team-high 11 games and tying for third in the Big South with three wins. The left-hander is 3-1 on the season with a 4.42 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 18-1/3 innings of work.
 
Power Surge: High Point has shown much more pop at the plate this season with 22 home runs in 23 games, third in the Big South. The Panthers are on pace to surpass the program Div. I record of 56 home runs set in 2010. Juniors Carson Jackson, and Austen Zente are tied for second in the conference with five home runs each while fellow junior Jordan Sergent is just behind the pair with four.
 
Start'em Young: The High Point pitching staff has relied on youth this season as underclassmen have pitched 158 of 202 innings (78.2 percent) for the Panthers in 2017. Twenty-two of HPU's 23 games this season have been started by underclassmen including six each by freshmen Trevor Holloway and Drew Daczkowski. Daczkowski ranks ninth in the Big South in ERA while Holloway and sophomore Andrew Gottfried are both among the top 10 in the Big South in opponent batting average.
 
Long Ball Brings Down Owls: High Point hit five home runs in the series against Kennesaw State, including four in the series finale. Senior Josh Greene and junior Hunter Lee both had two home runs on the weekend. In the final game at KSU, High Point led off four-straight innings with solo home runs as Lee hit one in both the second and fourth, Greene hit one in the third and junior Austen Zente had one in the fifth.
 
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.
 
Up Next: The Panthers host their first Big South series of the season this weekend when they welcome Gardner-Webb to Williard Stadium for a three-game set starting on Friday, March 31. High Point is 12-12 in 24 games against the Runnin' Bulldogs during the HPU Div. I era. Last season, HPU dropped two of three games against Gardner-Webb on the road.
 
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