Box Score (PDF)
• On his senior day, senior
Jordan Sergent blasted a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to sweep the Blue Hose.
• HPU set a new program record with its 19
th Big South win, tying the game in the ninth before winning it in the 10th.
• High Point's pitching staff held Presbyterian to just three runs on the weekend.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Senior
Jordan Sergent provided the most dramatic moment of the season for the High Point University baseball team so far, launching a walk-off solo homer in the last of the 10th inning to finish off a sweep over Presbyterian, 4-3 on Saturday night at Williard Stadium. It was the first walk-off for High Point of the season.
"You couldn't have had a more dramatic final day for these seniors," head coach
Craig Cozart said. "We win a 1-0 ballgame, and then winning a 10-inning thriller on a walk-off, I can't remember the last time we had a walk-off victory, much less a home run. We went deep into our roster and had a bunch of guys contribute in great ways so we couldn't have ended the regular season in a better way. Very proud of this group for getting a 19th conference victory, which sets a new record."
The Panthers (31-21, 19-8) surpassed the 2014 squad for the most conference wins in program history, and finished as the No. 2 seed in the Big South Tournament, which begins on Tuesday. HPU won its final six league games and won seven of its nine conference series, including three sweeps.
Sergent led off the bottom of the 10th against new Presbyterian (15-39, 8-19) pitcher Ryan Hall. After taking two pitches to level the count at 1-1, Sergent crushed a line shot that snuck over the wall in right-center for his sixth home run of the season. The senior, who was honored along with his other seven classmates prior to Saturday's opening game, was doused with water as he bounded into a mob scene at home plate to finish off the regular season.
The Panthers needed a rally just to get the game to extras after surrendering a 2-1 lead and giving up a pair of runs to the Blue Hose in the top of the ninth inning. HPU utilized an error, hit batter, and intentional walk to load the bases with one out, and was able to score the tying tally on a two-out, two-strike passed ball to send the game to the 10th.
Pitching was once again the name of the game for High Point as Presbyterian had managed just one run prior to the ninth that crossed on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning. HPU did not allow a run-scoring hit in the entire three-game set until the top of the ninth.
Sophomore
Muhammed Eid earned the start and danced around trouble in four of his five innings on the hill to toss a solid outing. Eid ceded the wild pitch in the first, but then stranded the bases loaded in the second, and left two runners on base in both the third and the fourth innings.
Coupled with a 1-2-3 fifth inning, Eid finished his regular season by giving up a run on six hits in five frames with two walks and five strikeouts. He handed things over to freshman
Jacob Kates in the sixth, who tossed three scoreless innings before allowing the tying and go-ahead runs in the ninth. In the 10th inning, junior
Nick Niarchos (1-0) was called out of the pen to quell a 1st-and-3rd rally with one down. He did just that by inducing a 5-4-3 double play to the only batter he faced to set up the dramatic finish for Sergent.
Junior
Conner Dunbar had provided all the offense prior to the 10th inning, tying the game with a solo homer in the last of the 5th inning. In the seventh, Dunbar doubled and scored on a single from freshman
Travis Holt to give HPU a 2-1 edge. In the ninth, it was Dunbar who reached on the leadoff error and scored on the passed ball that squared the game at three.
Having clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big South Tournament, High Point will open Big South Tournament play at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, Va against the No. 7 seed, Charleston Southern. The full bracket and matchups will be announced upon the completion of play on Sunday evening.
#GoHPU
