Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team hits the road for the opener of a four-game road trip with a mid-week contest against No. 13 North Carolina. First pitch from Boshamer Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. HPU enters on a four-game winning streak while UNC has dropped four of its last five.

The game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3).
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	UNC Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Tuesday, Feb. 27 3 p.m.	LHP Caleb Williams, Fr. (0-0, 0.00)	RHP Taylor Sugg, Jr. (0-0, 3.60)	Link	Link

History vs. North Carolina: The Panthers and Tar Heels have met 15 times since HPU moved to Div. I in 2000. HPU's lone win in the series came in 2009 when the Panthers defeated No. 4 North Carolina, 11-9. The two teams last met in the 2016 season with the then-No. 13 Heels pulling out an 8-1 victory.

UNC represents one of two ACC opponents that the Panthers will encounter this year. HPU will play a home-and-home with Wake Forest on May 1 and 15.

The Opponent: The Tar Heels, who were ranked as high as No. 6 in the preseason polls, have struggled to a 3-5 start to start the season. Carolina fell in both mid-week games last week to UNCW and St. John's before dropping two of three to East Carolina over the weekend.

UNC was projected to win the ACC Coastal and is coming off a 49-14 campaign and a Coastal Division championship. The Heels hosted a regional, ultimately falling to No.4 seed Davidson.

PROBABLE PITCHERS
• High Point: Freshman Caleb Williams will make his first career start and second overall appearance for the Panthers on Tuesday. Williams made his HPU debut on Friday against Dayton, striking out the side in a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Williams graduated from Venice High School in Venice, Fla and compiled a 19-4 record in his career with a 1.20 ERA. He struck out 212 batters in 142 career innings and authored two no-hitters.

• North Carolina: Junior Taylor Sugg climbs the hill for the third time this season. He last appeared on Wednesday against St. John's, allowing two unearned runs in four innings of work in a no-decision. He holds a 3.60 ERA in 5.0 innings thus far this year.

About the Weekend: HPU rebounded from its 0-3 start with a four-win week, capped off by three comeback victories in a sweep over Dayton at Williard Stadium. The Panthers blew past the Flyers, 12-2, on Friday night behind five different players with multi-hit games. Junior Conner Dunbar and senior Jordan Sergent collected four hits each, become the first duo since Feb. 21 2015 to accomplish the feat in the same game.

The Panthers then dug out of a four-run hole in Saturday's doubleheader opener to rally for an 8-7 victory. Redshirt-junior Daniel Millwee launched a go-ahead three-run homer as part of his second four-RBI game of the week. In the nightcap, senior Hunter Lee laced a go-ahead RBI single in the last of the eighth to finish off a three-run comeback in a 4-3 triumph.

Millwee's Big Week: Redshirt-junior Daniel Millwee took advantage with four RBI in his first career start on Feb. 21 at North Carolina A&T, the most for a Panther in that situation since JJ Woodard drove in four against UNCG on Feb. 21, 2016, exactly two years prior. Millwee then added seven RBI in his next two games to complete a three-game stretch where he was 6-for-9 with two doubles, two home runs, five runs scored, and 11 RBI.

Immediate Impact: Freshman Travis Holt saw himself inserted into the Panthers lineup for all three games of the opening series and made a difference in game one. Playing first base and hitting fifth, Holt went 2-for-3 with a sac bunt, becoming the first HPU freshman to collect a multi-hit game in the season opener since Carson Jackson's four-hit outburst in 2015. Holt has now hit safely in five of the first seven games in his career.

Murrah Picks Up Where He Left Off: Senior righthander Rion Murrah tossed 4.0 scoreless innings to earn the win in Saturday's nightcap. Dating back to last year, Murrah has thrown 26.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run (1 unearned run in that time frame). He has not allowed an earned run in any of last 12 appearances since April 1, 2017 vs Gardner-Webb.

Sit Down, Be Humble: Through seven games, HPU's pitching staff has held its opponents to a .218 batting average, the best in the Big South by 13 points (Liberty, .231). Panther pitchers have allowed the fewest amount of hits (48) and struck out 70 batters in seven games, the third-best rate in the conference. HPU posted 15 punchouts in game one against JMU on Feb. 18, the most for any Big South pitching staff in a single game this year.

Up Next: HPU will continue its four-game road trip this weekend with a three-game series at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. with a 4 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. start in the series finale on Sunday.

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