Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team returns to Williard Stadium for a critical three-game Big South series against conference co-leader Winthrop, beginning on Thursday. HPU has won two of three in each of its first two Big South sets while the Eagles are a perfect 6-0 thus far.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	Winthrop Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Thursday, Mar. 29 6 p.m.	RHP Andrew Gottfried, Jr. (3-2, 3.09)	RHP Nate Pawelczyk, Jr. (3-2, 3.08)	Link	Link
Friday, Mar. 30 6 p.m.	RHP Drew Daczkowski, So. (1-2, 5.23)	RHP Zach Peek, So. (3-2, 4.43)	Link	Link
Saturday, Mar. 31 1 p.m.	TBA	TBA	N/A	Link

History vs. Winthrop: High Point and Winthrop have met 55 times on the diamond, including four times a year ago. The Eagles swept the regular season series in Rock Hill before claiming a comeback 14-13 win in the conference tournament.

Prior to last year, HPU had won four straight series against Winthrop and was victorious in 10 of the previous 12 meetings. The Panthers are just 6-18 at Williard Stadium against Winthrop, but five of the six wins have come in the last two trips ('14/'16).

The Eagles: Winthrop comes in with a sub-.500 overall record, but a perfect 6-0 Big South mark following home sweeps of Presbyterian and Longwood. The Eagles fell in their mid-week contest at Wofford, 5-3, and have lost all 10 of their games away from home so far this season.

WU was projected to win the league after earning the Big South regular season title a year ago. Preseason Pitcher of the Year Nate Pawelczyk headlines a staff that also features reigning Big South Pitcher of the Week Zach Peek. Winthrop is second in the league in average (.269) and tied for second in the circuit in team ERA (4.95).

• Thursday: Junior Andrew Gottfried takes the lead role for HPU this weekend, holding a 1.35 ERA (2 ER/13.1 IP) against Big South competition  in the first two weekends. Gottfried has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his starts and is coming off five scoreless frames last Friday against Radford.

Preseason Pitcher of the Year Nate Pawelczyk gets the ball for Winthrop. Similar to Gottfried, Pawelczyk has issued two or fewer earned runs five times and is second in the league in opponents batting average (.174). sixth in ERA (3.08), and eighth in strikeouts (32).

• Friday: Sophomore Drew Daczkowski toes the rubber in the middle game for High Point. Daczkowski has not made it out of the fourth inning in either of last two starts, lasting just 3-plus frames last Friday against Radford. Despite that, the righthander is still t-9 in punchouts (31).

Zach Peek goes for Winthrop looking to build off a complete game shutout last Friday against Longwood. Peek has a preposterous 51-to-6 strikeout to walk ratio and leads the loop in both strikeouts and innings pitched (40.2). He has gone at least six innings in all but his first start so far this year.

• Saturday: Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for the series finale as of publication on Wednesday.

The Last One: UNCG scored nine times in its first four at-bats and held off HPU, 12-6, on Tuesday night in Greensboro. Seniors Carson Jackson and Hunter Lee each hit home runs for the Panthers, who could not overcome the slow start.

Wild Weather = Wild Schedule: High Point had to alter its weekend schedule due to weather five times in six weekends entering this series. HPU now played five doubleheaders (one scheduled) and gone 6-4 in such occasions. Of HPU's 11 scheduled home games, only one has been played at the original time.

Holt Named Freshman of the Week: Freshman Travis Holt earned his first career weekly honor from the Big South on Monday, being named the Big South Freshman of the Week. Holt hit .462 (6-13) with a double, two RBI, and three runs scored in High Point's 2-2 week against NC Central and Radford.

He joins senior Jordan Sergent (Player of the Week, 3/19), junior Cooper Jeffers (Relief Pitcher of the Week, 3/12), and freshman Tanner Wells (Freshman of the Week, 3/12) as High Point's recipient of a weekly award in the last three weeks.

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 .293 in the last 21 games and has posted double-digit hits 16 times, including 11 of the last 15. The Panthers are tops in the league in batting average (.280) and third in runs (156).

Lean on Lee: Senior Hunter Lee enters the weekend on a team season-best 16-game hitting streak. During the stretch, Lee is 25-for-66 (.279) with six multi-hit games and 16 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. He has extended his streak via a home run in two his last three games.

Bartender - Jack!: Senior Carson Jackson's power stroke has returned with three blasts in his last eight games to move into a three-way tie for the team lead in homers. Starting with the Environmental Staffing Chanticleer Classic on March 9, Jackson has hit safely in 11 of 13 games with six multi-hit games. His average has risen from .256 to its current .315 in that time frame.

Return of Zente: Senior Austen Zente missed four games from 3/10-16 after colliding with the wall in HPU's victory over Coastal Carolina on March 9. Since his return on March 17, Zente has been on fire, hitting .393 (11-28) with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, 13 runs scored, and seven RBI. Zente had hit safely in six straight prior to Tuesday, but reached base safely three times.

He is third on the team with a .418 OBP and currently paces the squad with 11 steals in 12 attempts.

Goose Eggs Needed: High Point's typically reliable pitching staff has hit a speed bump in the last 20 innings, allowing 36 runs (33 earned) in that span for a team ERA of 14.85. The opponent has scored in 15 of the frames, including 10 straight at one point. HPU's team ERA has risen a full point from 4.13 to 5.14 in the span.

Up Next: HPU will remain at home for a mid-week contest against Elon on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Panthers will then hit the road to begin a stretch of seven-of-eight away from Williard Stadium with a three-game series at Charleston Southern from April 6-8.

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