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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team opens the Big South Baseball Championship presented by Hardees against No. 5 seed Radford on Tuesday, May 23. High Point is 16-26 in the Big South Championship since joining the conference in 2000 and has reached the conference semifinals in four of the past seven seasons.
 
No. 5 Radford: Radford finished the 2017 campaign with a 23-30 record and an 11-13 record in the Big South. The Highlanders are led by a pair of first-team All-Big South players in starting pitcher Zack Ridgely and utility man Danny Hrbek. Ridgely is 6-5 with a 2.91 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 89-2/3 innings. He ranks third in the Big South in strikeouts and fifth in the Big South in ERA and opponent batting average. Against conference opponents, Ridgely is 4-2 with a 2.13 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 55 innings. Hrbek is the team's starting shortstop as well as a weekend starter on the mound. He is hitting .257 with 25 RBI and 29 runs scored while also going 4-5 with a 4.74 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 68-1/3 innings on the mound. Reliever Kyle Zurak also earned first-team honors after appearing in 22 games and posting a 2.53 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 42-2/2 innings. Kyle Butler leads the team in batting with a .318 average and has scored a team-high 43 runs while second-team All-Big South selection Jonathan Gonzalez is tops on the team with 12 home runs and 42 RBI. He is third in the league in home runs and tied for seventh in RBI. High Point dropped two of three games to Radford in a road series this season. The Panthers won the first game by a score of 6-5 but dropped the next two games by scores of 3-2 and 8-1. HPU is now 32-24 against the Highlanders since joining Div. I in 2000.

HPU vs. Radford in the Big South Tournament: High Point is 4-1 against Radford in five Big South Conference Tournament meetings. The Panthers won the first four meetings before dropping a second-round game against the Highlanders by a score of 4-0 in 2015. The two teams have met in the first round of the tournament three times (2007, 2010, 2014) with High Point taking the win in all three games.
 
No. 1 Winthrop: Winthrop won the its fourth Big South Regular Season Championship this season and its first since 2003. The Eagles finished with a 17-7 record in the conference and a 31-22 mark overall. First-team All-Big South selections Anthony Paulsen and Mitch Spires lead an Eagles' offense that ranks first in the Big South in batting average and third in runs per game. Paulsen is hitting a team-high .347 with 21 extra-base hits and 34 runs scored. Spires is hitting .343 with 34 RBI and a team-high 43 runs scored. The pair are third and fourth in the conference in batting average and Spires is tied for fourth in runs scored. On the mound, Winthrop features a pair of first-team All-Conference starting pitchers in right-handers Colton Rendon and Nate Pawelczyk. Rendon, the Big South Freshman of the Year, is 7-3 with a 3.07 ERA in a team-high 82 innings of work. Pawelczyk leads the Big South with a 2.30 ERA and is 7-2 62 strikeouts in 70-1/3 innings. He also is tops in the conference with a .187 opponent batting average. The Panthers were swept in a three-game road series against Winthrop, falling by scores of 7-3, 12-5 and 4-0. High Point is now 19-35 against the Eagles in the Div. I era.
 
HPU vs. Winthrop in the Big South Tournament: High Point is 2-1 against Winthrop in the Big South Tournament. The two teams faced off in a second-round elimination game last season where HPU pulled out a 6-2 win. Austen Zente went 2-4 with a solo home run while Hunter Lee finished 2-4 with an RBI and a runs scored for the Panthers.
 
No. 8 Campbell: Campbell finished the 2017 regular season with a 25-30 overall record and a 10-14 mark in Big South action. The Fighting Camels feature a potent offence that is second in the Big South with an average of 6.2 runs per game. First-team All-Big South selection Cole Hallum leads the team with 27 extra base hits and 50 RBI. He ranks second in the conference in slugging percentage, RBI and doubles, third in on-base percentage and tied for fourth in home runs. Matthew Barefoot is tops on the team with a .339 batting average to go along with 48 RBI and 42 runs scored. Drew Butler and Jeff Hahs joined Barefoot as second-team All-Big South selections. Butler is hitting .318 with a team-high 51 runs scored while Hahs is hitting .310 with 10 home runs, 41 RBI and 43 runs scored. High Point won its series against Campbell, taking two of three games at Williard Stadium. The Panthers won the first game, 10-4, dropped the second game in extra innings, 9-7, then claimed the rubber game by a score of 9-7. HPU is 13-20 in the 33 meetings between the two teams in the Div. I era.
 
HPU vs. Campbell in the Big South Tournament: High Point is just 1-3 against Campbell in the Big South Tournament. The two teams last met in 2014 when the Fighting Camels swept a semifinal doubleheader, winning by scores of 3-1 and 2-1 to eliminate the Panthers. High Point's only win over Campbell in the conference tournament came in 2012 when the Panthers eliminated the second-seeded Camels with a 9-5 win.
 
Last Time Out: The Panthers ended the regular season with a series win over the Maryland Terrapins out of the Big 10. High Point took the first two games of the series at WIlliard Stadium by scores of 3-2 and 7-6 before dropping the third and final game by a score of 9-2. Carson Jackson went 5-12 in the three games with a double and a home run while Hunter Lee finished 4-10 with a triple. It is the second-straight season that HPU has take two of three games from the Terrapins. The Panthers won a road series against Maryland in College Park, Md., last season and are now 4-2 all-time against the Terps.

High Point Secures Fifth Winning Season: High Point hs locked up its fourth-straight winning season and its fifth since joining Div. I in 2000. The Panthers have now finished .500 or better in each of the past four seasons, a feat that was accomplished just once in the previous 13 seasons. All five of HPU's winning seasons at the Div. I level have come under current head coach Craig Cozart who is first in High Point's Div. I history with 256 wins over nine seasons.

Four Panthers Earn All-Conference Nods: Redshirt-senior Tim Mansfield, senior Josh Greene, junior Blake Schunk and freshman Drew Daczkowski all were named second-team All-Big South by the conference on Monday. Mansfield is hitting .325 with 24 runs scored. He is hitting .375 in conference games with a team-high 17 runs scored. Greene is hitting .293 with 29 RBI and 26 runs scored and is tops on the team with 20 stolen bases. Schunk leads the team with a .338 batting average to go along with 12 doubles, 20 RBI and 24 runs scored. Daczkowski is 6-4 on the mound with a 2.84 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 73 innings.

Schunk Among League Leaders: Junior Blake Schunk joined the HPU starting lineup in the Panthers' league-opening series at Liberty and he ranks among the Big South leaders in several betting statistics in his first season with the club. The third-baseman's .338 batting average ranks seventh in the conference while his .416 on-base percentage is eighth.
 
Daczkowski Closing Strong: Freshman right-hander Drew Daczkowski completed HPU's second complete game of the season with a nine-inning, one-run performance against Charleston Southern. Daczkowski allowed just five hits and two walks while striking out seven against the Buccaneers. He recorded four-straight quality starts before his predetermined three-inning outing against Maryland on Friday. Over his last five starts, Daczkowski has pitched 32 innings and allowed just six runs, four earned, on 16 hits while striking out 29. He currently ranks fourth in the Big South in ERA and opponent batting average and sixth in strikeouts.
 
Greene Leaving His Mark: As his senior season comes to a close, Josh Greene has entered the HPU all-time record book in several offensive categories. The outfielder is tied for fifth in triples (8), tied for sixth in RBI (127), seventh in stolen bases (45) and 10th in runs scored (124).
 
Fireman Hodges: Sophomore left-hander Matt Hodges has become the Panthers' top reliever in his second year with the club, appearing in 23 games and posting a 5-1 record with six saves. Hodges ranks in the top 10 in the Big South in both wins and saves and has a 3.12 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 43-1/3 innings of work this season.
 
Start'em Young: The High Point pitching staff has relied on youth this season as underclassmen have pitched 331 of 443 innings (74.7 percent) for the Panthers in 2017. Underclassmen have started 44 of HPU's 50 games this season including 13 each by freshmen Drew Daczkowski and Trevor Holloway.
 
High Point Beats #16 Wake Forest: The Panthers picked up their highest win over a ranked opponent since 2010 when they went on the road and earned a 5-3 midweek win at No. 16 Wake Forest. High Point scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back as nine pitchers combined to hold one of the top offenses in the nation to eight hits and three runs over nine innings. Junior Hunter Lee went 2-4 in the contest with a home run, two RBI and a run scored.

Mansfield Named Player of the Week: Redshirt-senior Tim Mansfield was named the Big South Player of the Week on May 8 after hitting .727 (8-11) in a series sweep of Charleston Southern. Mansfield accounted for nine of the Panthers' 13 runs in the series with five RBI and four runs scored. He recorded multiple hits in every game and finished the weekend with three doubles and three stolen bases.
 
Sergent Named Pitcher of the Week: Junior Jordan Sergent was named the Big South Pitcher of the Week on April 24 for his performance against UNCG on April 18. Sergent pitched a career-high 7-1/3 innings of shutout baseball and allowed just four hits and two walks against the No. 4-ranked hitting team in the nation. The left-hander escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first then allowed just three base runners over his next 6-1/3 innings of work.
 
Johnson Goes The Distance: Senior Jeremy Johnson threw a complete game in his first collegiate start against UNC Asheville on April 13. The left-hander allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and two walks while striking out five in his nine innings of work. It was the first complete game for a Panther pitcher since former Panther Conor Lourey went the distance against Longwood on May 21, 2015 in the Big South Baseball Championships.
 
Zente Named Big South Player of the Week: Junior Austen Zente was named the Big South Player of the Week on April 3 after hitting . 389 (7-18) in five games and led HPU with three home runs, 11 RBI and six runs scored. The junior also drew four walks and went 2-2 on stolen bases for the week. Zente is the first Panther to be named Big South Player of the Week since Chris Clare received the honor on April 11 of last season.
 
Panther Bats Batter Runnin' Bulldogs: High Point had a season-high 19 hits in series-clinching win over Gardner-Webb on April 2. All nine Panther starters recorded at least one hit and six players had multiple hits, led by junior Blake Schunk who went 4-4 with a three doubles, three RBI and a run scored. Junior Spencer Brown went 3-5 with three RBI and a run scored while juniors Austen Zente, Carson Jackson and Hunter Lee and sophomore Connor Dunbar all had two hits in the win. HPU's previous season high for hits was 18 in the win at Davidson on Feb. 21.
 
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.
 
Daczkowski Named Big South Freshman of the Week: Freshman right-hander Drew Daczkowski was named the Big South Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week on March 6. Daczkowski earned his first collegiate win with seven innings of work against Army on Saturday. The right-hander allowed just two earned runs on three hits and a walk while striking out a career-high seven. In three starts this season, Daczkowski is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 15-1/3 innings.
 
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.
 
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