Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team ventures to Bull City to take on NC Central in Durham, N.C. on Wednesday at 5 p.m. HPU enters the mid-week contest after a series victory in its Big South opening set against Longwood. The Eagles took two of three from Bethune-Cookman over the weekend.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	NC Central Probable Pitcher	Live Audio	Live Stats
Wednesday, Mar. 21 5 p.m.	RHP Muhammed Eid, So. (0-0, 0.00)	TBD	Link	Link

 

History vs. NC Central: HPU is 5-2 all-time against NC Central with all the meetings occurring in the last five seasons. The Panthers and Eagles split a pair of games last year with each winning on the other's home field. NCCU won 11-5 at Williard Stadium (2/28) before HPU turned around with a 10-6 triumph at Durham Athletic Park (3/29).

High Point swiped the first four games in the series and is 2-1 all time against NC Central in Durham.

The Eagles: NC Central has played well to begin the campaign, owning a 14-7 mark prior to a mid-week contest against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Tuesday. NCCU was 22-28 a year ago and finished 12-11 in the MEAC. This season, the Eagles were projected to finish fourth in the southern division of the MEAC.

Sophomore Corey Joyce leads NCCU in hitting at .418 with eight doubles, five home runs and 21 RBI. Senior Zach Michalski has also had a standout campaign at the dish with a .314 average, seven doubles, five home runs and 23 RBI. 

PROBABLE PITCHERS
• High Point: The Panthers will go with sophomore Muhammed Eid in Wednesday's contest, making his first start of the campaign. Eid last appeared on March 11 against No. 21 Coastal Carolina, tossing 1.2 scoreless and hitless frames with three strikeouts.

This will be Eid's third career start, joining a pair of outings in his freshman season. He started against NCCU last year and allowed just a run on two hits in 4.1 innings in an eventual no-decision.

• NC Central: The Eagles have not announced a starter at the time of this publication. 

The Last One: The Panthers bounced back after dropping the series opener on Friday at Longwood to win the series with two decisive victories on Saturday and Sunday. High Point fell 5-4 on Friday after Longwood scored all five runs in the fifth inning. Redshirt-junior Daniel Millwee and senior Carson Jackson hit home runs in the game.

HPU responded on Saturday with an 8-2 triumph thanks in part to the best start of the season from junior Andrew Gottfried. The righthander lasted a career-best 8.1 innings, allowing only two runs on six hits. Senior Jordan Sergent had three hits and two RBI to lead the onslaught.

The Panthers wrapped up the set with a 10-2 victory on Sunday behind an eight-run eighth inning. Senior Austen Zente was a homer shy of the cycle with two RBI and redshirt-junior Jonny Vizcaino was lights out on the mound in relief, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings to earn his third win of the year.

Sergent Named Player of the Week: Senior Jordan Sergent's strong week from March 12-18 netted him his first career Big South Player of the Week honor. In four games, Sergent was 6-for-13 (.462) with two doubles, a homer, three runs scored and seven RBI. He also pitched four innings in a start at Longwood Friday.

For Openers: HPU's series victory over Longwood marked the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Panthers have won their first Big South series. High Point has posted five straight campaigns above .500 in conference play.

The Bats Awaken: After a slow start in the opening weekend against JMU (.182 team average), High Point's offense has clicked on all cylinders for the most part. HPU has a team average of .283 in the last 16 games and has posted double-digit hits 11 times, including seven of the last 10. The Panthers are second in the league in batting average (.268) and fourth in runs (115).

The Pen is Mightier: Redshirt-junior Jonny Vizcaino authored a superb 5.2 scoreless inning performance on Sunday at Longwood to earn the victory. It was another in a strong line of performances from the HPU relief corps. In the last eight games, Panther relievers have posted a 2.61 ERA (11 ER/38 IP) with 44 K's and 17 BB (2.59 K/BB ratio). 

Six of the 11 runs came in 7.2 innings last Wednesday against Ohio. Taking that game out of the equation, HPU's relievers have allowed five ER in 30.1 IP (1.48 ERA) in the last two weekends.

Lean on Lee: Senior Hunter Lee enters Wednesday's game on a team season-best 11-game hitting streak. During the stretch, Lee is 15-for-45 (.333) with four multi-hit games and 11 RBI. The senior has proven to come through in the clutch with five two-out RBI, four go-ahead RBI, and four game-winning RBI.

Comeback Kings: High Point used yet another comeback on Sunday to pick up the series victory over Longwood. Overall, seven of the Panthers 10 wins have come in comeback fashion, including overcoming a pair of four-run deficits. Through 19 games, HPU has scored the first run in only four contests.

I'll Take This Thank You: The Panthers stole six bases last weekend, increasing their season-long total to 29, the second-most in the league. The Purple & White rank 35th in the NCAA with their 29 steals in 19 games. Senior Austen Zente is third in the league with eight swipes.

Sit Down, Be Humble: Through 19 games, HPU's pitching staff has held its opponents to a .236 batting average, the best in the Big South by a point (Campbell, .237). Panther pitchers have allowed the fewest amount of hits (146) and struck out 183 batters in 19 games, the third-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 tied for eighth, respectively, in the Big South in strikeouts.

Up Next: High Point hosts Radford this weekend in the Big South home opening series. The Panthers and Highlanders kick off the weekend on Friday at 4 p.m. before reuniting on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

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