** Saturday's game has been moved up to 11 a.m. due to forecasted inclement weather in the afternoon. **

Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team ventures to Charleston, S.C. for the first time since 2014 for a three-game Big South series against Charleston Southern. HPU has won all three of its Big South series, one of just two teams in the league to accomplish the feat (Campbell).
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	Charleston Southern Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Friday, Apr. 6 6 p.m.	RHP Andrew Gottfried, Jr. (3-2, 2.83)	RHP Tyler Weekley, Jr. (1-4, 4.91)	N/A	Link
Saturday, Apr. 7 11 a.m.	RHP Drew Daczkowski, So. (2-2, 4.10)	RHP Evan Nations, Sr. (1-0, 2.88)	Link	Link
Sunday, Apr. 8 2 p.m.	TBA	LHP Cody Maw, Jr. (2-0, 4.50)	Link	Link

 

History vs. Charleston Southern: The Buccaneers hold a slim 23-22 edge in the all-time series, although things have heavily favored the Panthers in recent years. HPU has won nine straight games against CSU with sweeps in 2012, 2014, and 2017.

Last season, the Panthers outscored the Bucs 13-4 in the three-game set en route to a series sweep. This marks the first trip to CSU Ballpark for High Point since April 4-5, 2014. HPU has won 10 consecutive contests in Charleston, including three sweeps. 

The Buccaneers: CSU split a mid-week series against cross-town rival College of Charleston, winning 3-2 on Tuesday and falling 5-4 on Wednesday. The Buccaneers opened Big South play 0-5, but have since won three of four highlighted by a series victory over Longwood last weekend.

The Bucs are 3-6 in conference play and rank fourth in ERA (5.47) and ninth in team batting average (.242) against Big South competition. CSU has been held to just 39 runs in its first nine games, second-fewest in the league. Jason Miller is the team's top bat in league play, hitting .375 (t-10) thus far.

• Friday: Junior Andrew Gottfried looks to continue his strong performance in conference play, where he owns a 2-0 mark with a 1.10 ERA in three starts, the fifth-best ERA. He's held league opponents to a .158 average and is coming off three scoreless innings against Winthrop last Thursday.

CSU's stalwart, Tyler Weekley, starts in the opener in his eighth start of the year. Weekley did not factor in the decision last week against Longwood, allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings. Weekley's lone victory came Feb. 25 at South Carolina.

• Saturday: Sophomore Drew Daczkowski gets the ball fresh off 5.2 scoreless innings last Friday against Winthrop. The righthander has struck out 37 batters in just 26.1 innings, the ninth-most in the league. He has held the opponent to two earned runs or fewer in five of his six starts this year.

Evan Nations starts on Saturday for the Buccaneers in his sixth start of the year. Against league opponents, Nations has yielded just one run in 11.1 innings for league-best 0.79 ERA. He threw seven scoreless against Longwood last Saturday.

• Sunday: High Point has not announced a starter for the finale.

CSU will give the ball to southpaw Cody Maw in his second start of the year. His lone start came last Thursday against Longwood when he allowed two runs on four hits in 4.1 frames. 

Last Time Out: High Point tied a season-high with four home runs, but fell short in Tuesday's contest with Elon 13-9. Senior Carson Jackson became the first Panther to hit two homers in a game this season and was joined in the dinger department by seniors Austen Zente and Blake Schunk.

Power Surge: The Panthers' four homers on Tuesday marked the second time in the last three games that HPU has hit as many long balls. HPU is second in the league in homers this year with 25, including 11 against the Big South, tied for the most in the loop.

HPU started slow, hitting only three homers in the first 13 games, but have struck for 22 blasts in the last 15 contests.

Nearly a No-No: High Point came within one out of the first no-hitter in the program's Div. I history on Mar. 29 against Winthrop before seeing it broken up with two outs in the top of the ninth. Senior Rion Murrah was the main reason why, tossing six scoreless out of the bullpen. The feat is not the longest in program history as HPU threw 9.1 no-hit innings against Charlotte on Feb. 3, 2007 before losing 2-0 in 10 innings.

Nothing For You: HPU followed up its one-hitter with its first shutout of the year on Mar. 30 against the Eagles. It was the first whitewash since a 1-0 victory over UNCG on April 18, 2017. The Panthers had three shutouts last year, including one against a Big South opponent (UNC Asheville, 7-0, Apr. 14).

Murrah Claims Relief Pitcher of the Week Award: Thanks to his dominant relief outing on Thursday, senior Rion Murrah was named the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week for Mar. 26 - Apr. 1. Murrah struck out nine in a career-high six innings including eight in a 10-batter stretch.

He joins freshman Travis Holt (Freshman of the Week, 3/26), 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 four 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. HPU has a team average of .291 in the last 25 games and has posted double-digit hits 17 times, including 12 of the last 18. The Panthers are tops in the league in batting average (.280) and tied for third in runs (185).

Lean on Lee: Senior Hunter Lee enters the weekend on a team season-best 20-game hitting streak. During the stretch, Lee is 33-for-83 (.398) with 10 multi-hit games (four straight) and 19 RBI. The senior has proven to come through in the clutch with five two-out RBI, five go-ahead RBI, and four game-winning RBI. 

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 .429 (18-for-42) with four doubles, a triple, four home runs, 20 runs scored, and 10 RBI. Zente has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games and scored at least one run in each game.

Against the Big South, Zente is third in average (.467) and paces the circuit in runs (15), total bases (28), and stolen bases (7).

Playing From Ahead: High Point utilized comebacks to accrue wins early in the season, securing seven comeback victories in the first four weeks. However, HPU has now flipped the script by scoring first in eight straight games prior to Tuesday. The Panthers have scored in the first inning in seven of their last nine games.

Sit Down, Be Humble: Through 28 games, HPU's pitching staff has held its opponents to a .243 batting average, the second-best in the Big South (Campbell, .239). Panther pitchers have allowed the fewest amount of hits (224) and struck out 259 batters in 28 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.

Up Next: HPU returns home for another intra-Triad rivalry in the second game of a home-and-home series with UNCG on Tuesday. First pitch from Williard Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Panthers then hit the road for a three-game series at Gardner-Webb next weekend in Boiling Springs, N.C.

#GoHPU