LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
GAME NOTES

Friday Starters
HPU: So., RH Andrew Gottfried
KSU: Jr., RH Tony Dibrell

Saturday Starters
HPU: Fr., RH Trevor Holloway
KSU: Jr., RH AJ Moore

Sunday Starters
HPU: Fr., RH Drew Daczkowski
KSU: Sr., RH Gabe Friese

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team heads to Georgia this weekend for a three-game weekend series at Kennesaw State starting on Friday, March 10. It is the Panthers' final non-conference road series of the season.

The Series: This weekend marks the first-ever meetings between High Point and Kennesaw State.

The Opponent: Kennesaw State is 6-6 in 2017 with a weekend series win over Winthrop under its belt. The Owls have dropped three of their last four games with two losses in a three-game set against Middle Tennessee State and a loss at Auburn during the midweek. KSU is a potent offensive team, hitting .312 as a team and averaging 7.75 runs per game. Redshirt-junior Taylor Allum leads the team with a .410 batting average and five home runs and is tied for the team lead with 16 RBI. Five other players on the team have played in at least 11 games and are hitting over. 300, including junior Austin Upshaw who is hitting .375 with four home runs, 16 RBI and a team-high five runs scored. Junior right-hander Tony Dibrell will get the ball on Friday for the Owls. Dibrell is 1-1 with a 0.53 ERA in three starts and has 20 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Junior right-hander AJ Moore will go on Saturday for KSU followed by senior right-hander Gabe Friese in the series finale. Moore is 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 15 innings while Friese is 1-1 with a 5.02 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 14-1/3 innings.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers:
• Friday: Sophomore right-hander Andrew Gottfried will return to his usual spot at the head of the HPU rotation after missing last weekend with a cut on a finger on his pitching hand. 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 will make his fourth start of the season on Saturday. He is 1-1 on the season with a 1.98 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 13-2/3 innings of work. The freshman got the ball on Friday against Army and pitched five innings allowing just one run while striking out six. 
 
• Sunday: Freshman right-hander Drew Daczkowski will take the mound on Sunday for his fourth start of the season. The freshman is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 15-1/3 innings of work over three starts. Daczkowski set new career highs in both innings pitched and strikeouts against Army last Saturday as the freshman went seven innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk while striking out seven.
 
HPU vs. the Atlantic Sun: High Point is 4-4 in the Div. I era against teams currently in the Atlantic Sun. The Panthers are 3-3 this season having taken two of three games at home against NJIT and one of three games at Stetson. The only previous contests against Atlantic Sun opponents came in 2008 when the Panthers split two games with USC Upstate.
 
Last Weekend: High Point claimed its second weekend series of the season with a series win over Army at Williard Stadium. The Panthers won the first two games by scores of 3-2 and 4-2 before dropping the final game of the weekend by a score of 7-3. Freshmen pitchers Trevor Holloway and Drew Daczkowski both earned their first collegiate wins on the weekend as Holloway pitched five innings and allowed one run on Friday and Daczkowski pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs on Saturday. Junior Jordan Sergent hit .273 with two home runs and three runs scored to lead the HPU offense while junior Ryan Mason and sophomore Conner Dunbar both led the team with three RBI on the weekend.
 
Start'em Young: The High Point pitching staff has relied on youth this season as underclassmen have pitched 78 percent of the innings for the Panthers in 2017. All eleven of HPU's games have been started by underclassmen including three each by freshmen Trevor Holloway and Drew Daczkowski and two 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 12 home runs in eleven games, second in the Big South. The Panthers are on an early pace to hit 65 home runs which would blow away the program Div. I record of 56. Juniors Carson Jackson and Jordan Sergent are tied for the Big South lead with four home runs each while fellow junior Austen Zente is tied for fifth 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.

Up Next: High Point will face off with Wake Forest in midweek action on Tuesday, March 14, in Williard Stadium. First pitch in the contest is set for 4 p.m. High Point is just 10-29 against Wake Forest since joining Div. I in 2000.

#GoHPU