** UPDATE (Friday 2 p.m.): DUE TO POTENTIAL FORECAST, FRIDAY'S GAME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO A 6 P.M. FIRST PITCH. SATURDAY'S GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED AND WILL NOW BE A DOUBLEHEADER ON SUNDAY AT 12 P.M.**

Game Notes | Season Prospectus

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team opens up its 19th season at the Div. I level with a three-game series against James Madison from Friday - Sunday, Feb. 16-18. HPU is coming off consecutive 30-win campaigns for the first time in program history.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	JMU Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Friday, Feb. 16 6 p.m.	RHP Drew Daczkowski, So. (6-4, 3.29)	LHP Colton Harlow, Sr. (3-3, 4.66)	Link	Link
Sunday, Feb. 18 12 p.m.	LHP Jordan Sergent, Sr. (1-1, 5.40)	RHP Dan Goggin, Jr. (--)	Link	Link
Sunday, Feb. 18 (45 minutes after game 1)	RHP Andrew Gottfried, Jr. (4-3, 3.86)	RHP Christian Bourne, Jr. (1-1, 4.91)	Link	Link

History vs. JMU: The Panthers and Dukes have never met on the diamond. JMU is one of three CAA programs on the docket this year for High Point, joining a three-game series at William & Mary (Mar. 2-4) and a home-and-home series with Elon (Apr. 3 and 24). HPU was 1-2 against the CAA last year, splitting a pair with Elon and falling in a mid-week contest against UNCW.

The Opponent: James Madison enters 2018 off a 24-27 (7-17 CAA) campaign in head coach Marlin Ikenberry's second season. The Dukes have suffered six consecutive sub-.500 seasons since posting a 42-19 mark in 2011, a year in which JMU won the CAA and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

The Dukes were projected to finish 7th in the nine-team CAA this year, and are led by preseason All-CAA selection Adam Sisk. The senior outfielder was a second team All-CAA honoree last year after leading the Dukes in average (.337), runs (55), stolen bases (14) and tying for the team lead with 11 home runs.

Sophomore Fox Semones was named preseason honorable mention All-CAA after being tabbed to Collegiate Baseball's Freshman All-American team in 2017.

Probable Pitchers
• Friday: Sophomore Drew Daczkowski is slated to make the opening day start for HPU. Daczkowski is coming off an all-conference campaign when he was 6-4 with a 3.29 ERA, leading the team in wins, innings pitched (76.2) and strikeouts (70).

Southpaw Colton Harlow gets the ball for JMU. He started 13 games a year ago for the Dukes, going 3-3 with a career-best 4.66 ERA. He led JMU with 70 strikeouts and 75.1 IP.

• Saturday: Senior Jordan Sergent toes the rubber in his fifth career start. In his first year with HPU, Sergent started four games and compiled a 1-1 record with a 5.40 ERA in 20.0 IP. His season was highlighted by 7.1 scoreless innings vs. UNCG (4/18)

Junior Dan Goggin will make his JMU debut in the middle game of the set. He transferred in from Cumberland County College where he compiled a 9-2 record with a 3.87 ERA in 18 games (15 starts). He struck out 79 in 90.2 IP.

• Sunday: Junior Andrew Gottfried will get the start in the series finale. A Freshman All-American in 2016, he posted a 4-3 record with a 3.86 ERA in 11 starts during an injury-riddled sophomore campaign.

JMU will send Christian Bourne to the mound on Sunday. Bourne started just three games in 19 total appearances in 2017, going 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in 33.0 IP.

About Last Year: High Point posted its fourth straight winning campaign and fifth overall since moving to Div. I in the 2000 seasons. The Panthers finished 30-23 and 13-11 in the Big South, good for fourth in the league. HPU started out 1-5 in conference play before rattling off five straight league series victories, a span where the Purple & White went 11-4.

High Point secured non-conference series victories against Maryland, NJIT, Army, and Kennesaw State and defeated No. 16 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.

Panthers Picked Third: High Point was projected to finish third in the Big South standings this season. The Panthers were one of four teams to receive a first place vote in the crowded top half of the league that was separated by just 19 points. Defending regular season champion Winthrop was picked to repeat, followed by Liberty, HPU, and defending tournament champ Radford.

Welcome to Williard: The Purple & White open up the 2018 season at home, marking the third straight year that the Panthers begin the year at Williard Stadium. HPU has won three of its last four home openers and is 4-2 in its last six home lid-lifters.

HPU went 17-9 at Williard Stadium last season, continuing a strong trend of protecting home turf under head coach Craig Cozart. The Panthers have held a winning record at home in each of the last eight seasons, compiling a mark of 139-79 (.638) in that time. High Point will host 24 home games in 2018.

Returning Depth: The Panthers head into 2018 with a majority of last year's team in tact. HPU returns seven of its nine regulars in the starting lineup, tied for the most in the Big South. The Purple & White bring back 69 percent of games played and 75 percent of their starts in the lineup from a year ago. The numbers are similar for the pitching staff, with 75 percent of the innings pitched returning to the team. A combined 78 percent of the total appearances and 68 percent of games started come back.

Joining the Fray: Twelve newcomers join the fray this spring, headlined by 10 freshman. Travis Holt and Tanner Wells are two names singled out by Coach Cozart as freshman who can make an immediate impact in the starting lineup. Holt will be a part of a platoon at first base with senior Jordan Sergent while Wells is anticipated to share time in left field.

Nine of the 12 newcomers will compete for time on the mound in a crowded HPU relief corps. Redshirt-sophomore Harrison Smith and redshirt-junior Jonny Vizcaino are a pair of junior college transfers who are expected to contribute to High Point's bullpen.

Changes on Staff: Coach Cozart welcomed three new members to his coaching staff in the offseason in assistant coach Rick Marlin, volunteer assistant coach Chris Fenisey, and student assistant coach Kevin Bell. Additionally, Jason Laws was promoted to recruiting coordinator in addition to his duties as an assistant coach.

Marlin rejoins the staff after being the volunteer assistant from 2014-16. He was an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic in 2017 Fenisey comes to High Point after two seasons as an assistant coach at Greensboro College. Bell pitched for the Panthers each of the last two years, but will join the coaching staff for 2018.

Back End of the Pen: HPU is fortunate to hold two of the strongest relief arms in the Big South in junior lefthander Matt Hodges and senior righthander Rion Murrah. The duo combined for 44 relief appearances in 2017 with nine saves and a 2.54 ERA in 85.2 innings, striking out 99 and walking only 32.

Hodges and Murrah saved their best for last in the Big South Conference tournament. Hodges pitched a career-high 6.0 innings against Radford with 10 strikeouts, establishing a new HPU Div. I record for punchouts by a reliever. The next day, Murrah struck out 11 to break the record in 5.2 scoreless frames. Murrah enters 2018 with 18.2 consecutive spotless innings.

Behind the Plate: HPU will once again employ a platoon system behind the plate with three viable options at catcher. Senior Spencer Brown and junior JJ Woodard return after  splitting the duties last year with redshirt-junior Daniel Millwee joining the fray as a junior college transfer.

Offense will go a long way in determining playing time as the three possess relatively similar and strong defensive assets.

Around the Horn: The Panthers bring back all four starters on the infield with Jordan Sergent (1B), Hunter Lee (2B), Conner Dunbar (SS), and Blake Schunk (3B). Sergent, a two-way asset will split time with freshman Travis Holt. Lee and Dunbar combined to spin 33 double plays last year while Schunk became arguably the team's best hitter throughout the year. He has improved his defensive game in the offseason thanks to improved conditioning, resulting in increased range and lateral mobility.

Experience in the Outfield: High Point will rely upon two stalwarts in the outfield in center fielder Austen Zente and right fielder Carson Jackson. The two started a combined 104 games last year and were both in the top three of eight different offensive categories: at-bats, runs, hits, extra-base hits, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, and slugging percentage. Jackson enters 2018 with a team-high 158 career starts under his belt.

Up Next: HPU hits the first road for the first time in 2018 with a visit to North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, Feb. 21. First pitch in Greensboro is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Panthers then return to Williard Stadium for a three-game series against Dayton from Friday - Sunday, Feb. 23-25.

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