Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team returns home for a brief one-game mid-week contest against Ohio University. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. High Point is coming off a 3-1 weekend in Conway S.C. against Ohio State and #21 Coastal Carolina in the Environmental Staffing Chanticleer Classic.

The Bobcats swept a weekend series at Towson and are winners of five of their last six games.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	Ohio Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Wednesday, Mar. 14 2 p.m.	RHP Kirby Osborn, R-Fr. (0-0, 5.40)	TBD	N/A	Link

History vs. Ohio: High Point and Ohio have only met three times in the Division I era and not since 2013. The Panthers and Bobcats split a pair at Williard Stadium in early March 2013 while Ohio claimed a neutral site game played in Greensboro in 2001. HPU last played a MAC squad in 2015 when the Panthers dropped a pair to Ball State in Aiken, S.C.

The Bobcats: Ohio enters the matchup with a 9-6 mark after a weekend sweep of Towson in Baltimore, Md that included a pair of one-run victories. The Bobcats split their first three four-game series to begin the campaign.

Ohio qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year, claiming the MAC Tournament championship for the second time in three years. The Bobcats were picked fourth in the preseason poll. Rudy Rott leads Ohio with a .383 average and four homers while Trevor Hafner has a team-best 12 RBI. Overall, the team is hitting .273 while holding a solid 3.45 team ERA.

PROBABLE PITCHERS
• High Point: The Panthers will send redshirt-freshman Kirby Osborn to the mound in his second career start. The Land O' Lakes, Fla. native made his career debut in a start against North Carolina A&T on Feb. 21, allowing two runs on two hits and four walks in 3.2 innings.

Osborn last pitched on March 3 against William & Mary, allowing two runs on three hits with three strikeouts.

• Ohio: The Bobcats have not announced a starter for Wednesday's matchup.

About Last Weekend: The Panthers claimed the Environmental Staffing Chanticleer Classic with a 3-1 record against Ohio State and #21 Coastal Carolina. HPU dropped the opening game to Ohio State (8-6) on Friday before rebounding with victories over the Chanticleers (8-5, 3-2) and the Buckeyes (8-4). All three wins for High Point were comeback triumphs.

Senior Hunter Lee led the offense with eight hits and collected the game-winning RBI's in both wins over Coastal. All five RBI's from the senior came in the eighth inning or later. Seniors Carson Jackson and Blake Schunk and freshman Tanner Wells all posted seven hits in the four games.

On the mound, HPU got great relief performances from freshman Jacob Kates, redshirt-junior Jonny Vizcaino, and junior Cooper Jeffers, among others. Kates gave up just one run in four innings on Friday against Ohio State, Vizcaino earned the victory Friday evening by allowing only one unearned run in 3.1 frames, and Jeffers capped off the weekend with 4.1 scoreless innings while picking up the win over Coastal Carolina.

Players of the Week: High Point earned its first weekly conference honors on Monday with junior Cooper Jeffers being named the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week and freshman Tanner Wells garnering Freshman of the Week.

Jeffers coaxed a pair of double plays and picked off two runners in his 4.1 innings of scoreless relief against Coastal Carolina. Its the first honor of his career. Wells picked up one RBI in each of the four games, going 7-for-17 with his first career homer on Sunday against Coastal Carolina, tying the game in the fourth inning.

Comeback Kings: High Point used three straight comebacks to post a 3-1 record on Saturday. Overall, the Panthers have won six of their eight games in comeback fashion, including overcoming a pair of four-run deficits. Through 15 games, HPU has scored the first run in only two contests.

Let's Play Two!: Friday's twin-bill marked the fourth straight weekend High Point played a doubleheader to open its season. HPU was swept in a double-dip by JMU, took both games from Dayton, and has split the last two at William & Mary and against Ohio State/Coastal.

High Point played in five doubleheaders last season, going 5-5 with one sweep and three splits while only being swept once.

I'll Take This Thank You: The Panthers stole two bases over the weekend, increasing their league-leading total to 22 on the season. The Purple & White rank 39th in the NCAA with their 22 steals in 15 games. Senior Austen Zente is tied for third in the league with six swipes.

Sit Down, Be Humble: Through 15 games, HPU's pitching staff has held its opponents to a .235 batting average, the best in the Big South by 10 points (Campbell, .245). Panther pitchers have allowed the second-fewest amount of hits (116) and struck out 154 batters in 15 games, the second-most in the conference.

HPU tied a school record with 17 punchouts against W&M on Mar. 3, the most for any Big South staff in a single game this year. Panther pitchers have accounted for the two highest single-game strikeout totals in the league, having also K'd 15 vs JMU on Feb. 18.

Junior Andrew Gottfried and sophomore Drew Daczkowski enter the weekend third and fourth, respectively, in the Big South in strikeouts. Both are among the nation's top 35 in K/9 (Daczkowski, 26th & Gottfried, 33rd)

Up Next: High Point hits the road to open conference play with a three-game series in Farmville, Va. against Longwood. The Panthers and Lancers did not meet last season after splitting four games in 2016. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is scheduled for 4 p.m. with a 2 p.m. start on Sunday.

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