SCHEDULE CHANGE: Sunday's game has been delayed to a 4 p.m. first pitch due to wet field conditions.

Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team returns to Williard Stadium for just the second time in the month of March to host Radford in the Big South home opening series. HPU has played 12 of its previous 13 games outside of High Point, but comes in with a 2-1 mark in league play.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	Radford Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Friday, Mar. 23 2 p.m. (Game 1)	RHP Drew Daczkowski, So. (1-1, 5.09)	RHP Ryan Sande, Jr. (0-0, 2.35)	Link	Link
Friday, Mar. 23 Game 2	RHP Andrew Gottfried, Jr. (2-2, 3.67)	LHP Hunter Williams, Fr. (0-0, 3.10)	Link	Link
Sunday, Mar. 25 4 p.m.	LHP Jordan Sergent, Sr. (1-0, 4.58)	RHP Cameron Fritz, Jr. (0-0, 8.00)	Link	Link

History vs. Radford: High Point and Radford renew acquaintances for the 59th, 60th, and 61st meetings in the series history. HPU owns a 32-26 edge in the set, but dropped three of four meetings last season, including the first round of the Big South tournament in a game that started at 11:45 p.m.

The Highlanders visits Williard Stadium for the first time since 2016, when High Point swept a three-game set and outscored RU, 23-7. HPU is 14-13 all-time at home against Radford.

The Highlanders: Radford comes to town with an 8-11 mark (1-2 Big South) on the season after falling in its opening series to UNC Asheville. RU salvaged the final game of the set, 12-5, after falling in the first two contests, 5-4 and 8-2.

RU was projected fourth in the Big South after advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years via a tournament championship in 2017. Andrew Szamski is the lone hitter on the squad with an average over .300, hitting .368 with 11 extra-base hits. He paces the team in runs (tied, 11), triples (tied, 2), homers (3), and RBI (13).

• Friday G1: Sophomore Drew Daczkowski returns to the hill after missing action last week. Daczkowski last pitched on March 9 against Ohio State, yielding six runs (five earned) on seven hits in 3.1 innings.

Ryan Sande gets the ball for RU, looking for his first result of the year. He's coming off a 3.0-inning start last week that matched his shortest of the campaign. Last season against HPU, Sande allowed a run on four hits in 4.1 innings on May 14.

• Friday G2: Fresh off a career-long outing, junior Andrew Gottfried gets the ball in Friday's nightcap. Gottfried limited Longwood to two runs on six hits in 8.1 innings last week, earning his second straight victory.

Radford gives the ball to freshman Hunter Williams in his sixth appearances. He has allowed one run in each of last four outings and limited Asheville to just one hit in 5.2 frames last week.

• Sunday: Senior Jordan Sergent slides into the Sunday start this week after earning the Friday start at Longwood. The southpaw is currently second on the team with 19.2 innings pitched on the campaign.

Radford starts junior Cameron Fritz in the series finale. Fritz makes his sixth start of the year in search of his result thus far. Last week, Ftitz allowed three runs in 3.1 innings against UNCA.

The Last One: High Point dropped a seesaw affair to NC Central on Wednesday, 8-7. HPU built a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth, but saw it vanish via a six-run bottom of the fifth and an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh. Six different Panthers recorded multi-hit games, led by senior Hunter Lee, who was a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored.

Conference Opening Victories: 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.

He continued his hot hitting on Wednesday with a three-run homer at NC Central. He has now recorded multiple RBI's in four straight games dating back to last Wednesday.

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 .289 in the last 17 games and has posted double-digit hits 12 times, including eight of the last 11. The Panthers are second in the league in batting average (.274) and third in runs/game (6.1).

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 nine games, Panther relievers have posted a 3.43 ERA (16 ER/42 IP) with 52 K's and 21 BB.

Eleven of the 16 runs have come in the last two mid-week games against Ohio and NC Central. Taking those games out of the equation, HPU's relievers have allowed just five ER in 30.1 IP (1.48 ERA) in the last two weekends.

Lean on Lee: Senior Hunter Lee enters this weekend on a team season-best 12-game hitting streak. During the stretch, Lee is 19-for-49 (.388) with five 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. Lee tied his career highs in hits (4) and runs (3) on Wednesday against NCCU.

Picking Up Steam: Lee is one of many members of the HPU lineup that have seen their bats heat up recently. Seniors Jordan Sergent and Carson Jackson and junior JJ Woodard are all currently riding five-game hitting streaks.

Sergent has accrued 10 RBI in his last four games, moving into a tie for the team lead with 17. Jackson has posted three straight multi-hit games to move into the team lead with a .342 average. Meanwhile, Woodard, who started the season 0-for-10, is 7-for-15 with three extra-base hits in his last five.

Up Next: High Point hits the road yet again for a mid-week series at UNCG on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Panthers then return home for a conference series with Winthrop that begins on Thursday at 6 p.m., continues on Friday at 6 p.m. and wraps up on Saturday at 1 p.m.


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