Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team hosts ACC foe Wake Forest to Williard Stadium on Tuesday at 6 p.m. HPU is 0-1 against the ACC this year, falling at then-No. 13 North Carolina on Feb. 27. The Demon Deacons dropped two of three over the weekend at Georgia Tech and are 2-2 against Big South foes, splitting series against Liberty and Gardner-Webb this year.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	Wake Forest Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Wednesday, May 1 6 p.m.	RHP Muhammed Eid, So. (1-0, 4.09)	LHP Jared Shuster, Fr. (0-1, 7.88)	Link	Link

  
HPU vs Wake Forest: The Panthers welcome ACC foe Wake Forest to Williard Stadium on Tuesday at 6 p.m. HPU is 0-1 against the ACC this year, falling at then-No. 13 UNC on Feb. 27.

The Demon Deacons dropped two of three over the weekend at Georgia Tech and are 2-2 against Big South foes, splitting series against Liberty and Gardner-Webb this year.

History vs. Wake Forest: High Point and Wake Forest have matched up 41 times since HPU moved to Div. I. After WF dominated the early portions of the series (19-4 in first 23 meetings), the Panthers have posted a respectable 7-13 mark in Craig Cozart's tenure.

HPU and Wake have split the season set three of the last four years, although the Panthers are looking for their first victory on home turf since a 4-3 win on April 29, 2015.

The Demon Deacons: After advancing to the Super Regionals and a win from Omaha last year, Wake Forest has boasted a youthful team this season that has led to a sub-.500 mark thus far. Nearly half of their position player starts are from freshman while two-thirds of the IP come via underclassmen.

The Deacs are hitting .250 as a team, led by Jake Mueller's .300 clip, adding a homer and 17 RBI. Johnny Aiello leads Wake in homers (8) and RBI (34). WF posts a 4.65 team ERA thus far.

'PROBABLE PITCHERS
• High Point: HPU will send sophomore Muhammed Eid to the hill in his fourth straight mid-week start. Eid was one of nine pitchers to throw last Tuesday in the win over UNCG, ceding an unearned run in the first inning. In four starts this season, Eid is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA, allowing just three earned runs in 13 innings pitched.

• Wake Forest: The Deacs hand the ball to southpaw Jared Shuster in his fourth start of the campaign and 17th overall appearance. Shuster pitched two innings against Liberty on Wednesday, allowing three runs on two hits and a walk. His last start came April 3 against Davidson when he gave up four runs on two hits and three walks in 4.1 frames.

Last Time Out: The Panthers have been off since a 3-1 victory over North Carolina A&T last Wednesday at Williard Stadium. Nine different HPU hurlers took to the mound to combine for a five-hitter against the Aggies. The lone run against was an unearned tally in the first frame.

Junior JJ Woodard clocked his third home run of the year to tie the game in the fifth before junior Conner Dunbar laced a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning to give the Panthers the lead for good.

Bomb Squad: High Point's bats have been held in check recently week with just two home runs in the last five games. However, the Panthers had belted 23 dingers in the previous eight games.

HPU continues to leads the Big South and ranks 26th nationally in homers this year with 46, including 30 against the Big South in 18 games. The Panthers started slow, hitting only three homers in the first 13 games, but have struck for 43 blasts in the last 27 contests.

High Point has surpassed its total from last year (43) and is 10 shy of the Div. I school record (56) set in 2010. The all-time record is 77 set by the 1975 squad.

Lean on Lee: Senior Hunter Lee saw his career-best 28-game hitting streak come to an end on April 20, four games shy of tying the all-time school record. Lee's streak was the second-longest streak in the NCAA this year (Jameson Hannah, Dallas Baptist, 35).

During the stretch, Lee was 47-for-113 (.416) with 15 multi-hit games (nine of the last 12) and 28 RBI. He has now hit safely in 37 of 40 games this year and is still riding a 32-game on-base streak, reaching safely via a base knock last Wednesday.

It Starts At The Top: Senior Austen Zente missed four games from 3/10-16 after colliding with the wall in HPU's victory over Coastal Carolina on 3/9. Since his return on March 17, Zente has been on fire, hitting .380 (35-for-92) with four doubles, a triple, nine home runs, 33 runs scored, and 23 RBI. Zente has hit safely in 21 of his last 23 games and had scored at least one run in 20 of the 23 contests as well.

This year, Zente has scored a team-high 40 runs in 86 times on base, a 46.5% success rate. Since returning from injury, though, Zente has reached base 60 times in 23 games and scored a preposterous 33 times (55% success rate).

Dunbar Digs the Home Confines: Junior Conner Dunbar posted a strong weekend against Liberty, going 5-for-7 with a double, two runs scored, two RBI, and four walks. He added to that with the game-winning two-run double against A&T on Wednesday. Dunbar has loved hitting at Williard Stadium this year, batting .403 (25-for-62) in 19 home games.

Dunbar is the only Panther to start all 40 games this year and has started the last 93 games at shortstop for HPU.

Among The Best: Senior Carson Jackson laced a leadoff double in the second inning on April 22 vs Liberty, tying the all-time school record with his 52nd two-bagger. In addition to his school-record total, Jackson ranks among HPU's top 10 in hits (3rd), RBI (4th), at-bats (t-4th), runs (6th), home runs (10th), and games played (10th).

Stop Hitting Austen: Senior Austen Zente has been beaned 18 times this year, the sixth-most in the NCAA. This is nothing new for Zente, who was hit by 21 pitches a year ago, the third-most in a single season in school history.

As a result, Zente has now tied the school record for most career HBP with 51 in just three full seasons of action.

Focusing on Offense: Since senior Jordan Sergent was moved out of the weekend rotation and back to a utility position player, his offensive numbers have taken off, culminating in his current 10-game hitting streak, a career-long.

In six games where Sergent pitched and was also in the starting lineup, he was hitting just .120 (3-for-25). Outside of that, he has posted a .311 average (33-for-106) in 32 appearances. Over the last 10 games, he is hitting .326 (14-for-43) with four extra-base hits, and has increased his season average 28 points to .275

Up Next: High Point embarks on an eight-game road trip with a pivotal three-game showdown at first-place Campbell this weekend. First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m. with a 6 p.m. start on Saturday and 2 p.m. first pitch in the finale Sunday.

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