Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team ignites an eight-game road trip with a crucial three-game series against first place Campbell this weekend at Jim Perry Stadium. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3. The Big South Network has coverage of Saturday's 6 p.m. and Sunday's 2 p.m. contests.

HPU has won three of its last four, including a pair of mid-week games. The Camels have won four of five, including a 5-4 win over No. 5 NC State on Wednesday.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	Campbell Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Friday, May 4 7 p.m.	RHP Andrew Gottfried, Jr. (4-4, 3.59)	RHP Allan Winans, r-Sr. (4-4, 2.77)	Link	Link
Saturday, May 5 6 p.m.	RHP Joe Johnson, So. (2-0, 4.34)	RHP Michael Horrell, Jr. (6-1, 2.85)	Link	Link
Sunday, May 6 2 p.m.	RHP Drew Daczkowski, So. (2-2, 4.11)	RHP Brandon Jenkins, Fr. (1-1, 4.87)	Link	Link

  
History vs. Campbell: High Point and Campbell met four times a year ago with the Panthers claiming three victories, including eliminating the Camels from the Big South tournament. HPU is 5-9 all-time in Buies Creek, dropping two of three in the most recent visit in 2016.

Since Campbell rejoined the league in 2011, the teams have split the 18 matchups, 9-9. HPU is 3-3 at CU, 6-5 at home, and 1-2 in neutral site affairs since the Camels re-entered the loop.

The Camels: Campbell has enjoyed a tremendous season in the Big South, topping the league with a 15-3 mark. The Camels have swept four league opponents, including Longwood and Presbyterian in the last two weeks.

CU is led by its league-best 4.49 ERA and .244 opponents average. Offensively, the Camels rank seventh in the league with a .251 average and are tied for fifth with 248 runs scored. Matthew Barefoot is the team's top hitter with a .327 clip and ranks among the league's top 10 in average, on-base percentage, runs, triples, HBP, and steals.

Last Time Out: The Panthers earned their second straight mid-week victory with an 8-4 triumph over Wake Forest on Tuesday. HPU scored all eight of its runs in the fourth inning on four singles, four walks, and two hit batters.

Sophomore Muhammed Eid tossed five solid innings on the bump, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks. Senior Jordan Sergent extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a pinch-hit RBI single.

Inside The Numbers: HPU enters the weekend three games back of the Camels, but possesses the league's highest RPI at 123. High Point has three top-50 RPI wins (Coastal Carolina x2, Ohio State) while the rest of the league has five combined.

With a strength of schedule at 154 entering Friday, HPU has played the second-toughest schedule in the Big South (Winthrop, 123). Of the four teams within three games of first place, High Point has the lowest remaining opponents win percentage at .467 (84-96). Conversely, Campbell faces the toughest remaining road with a .614 win percentage (105-66).

Best Start Ever: High Point was the last team in the Big South to not drop a series thus far this year, winning its first five series with one sweep (at Charleston Southern). As a result, HPU has tied its best conference start ever at 12-6, matching the mark from 2006 and 2016. The Panthers can be the fastest team in school history to 13 league wins with a victory on either Friday or Saturday (previous: 13 wins in game #21, 2016).

Unlikely Source Stabilizes Rotation: While sophomore Drew Daczkowski has been held out the last two conference weekends with an injury, sophomore Joe Johnson has come on and provided two tremendous starts on Saturday. Johnson had never made a start and had made just 16 relief appearances in two years prior to Apr. 14 at Gardner-Webb, but has allowed only one earned run in 12.1 innings in two starts (0.73 ERA) since.

The two-way player is scheduled to get the ball on Saturday yet again while Daczkowski is anticipated to return to the bump for the first time since Apr. 7 at Charleston Southern.

Bomb Squad: High Point's bats have been held in check recently week with just two home runs in the last six games. However, the Panthers had belted 23 dingers in the previous eight games. HPU continues to leads the Big South and ranks 27th 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 Panthers are one of 21 teams in the nation to have at least 11 players hit a homer.

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 33-game on-base streak, reaching safely three times against Wake Forest Tuesday.

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 .366 (35-for-96) with four doubles, a triple, nine home runs, 34 runs scored, and 23 RBI. Zente has hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games and had scored at least one run in 21 of the 24 contests as well.

This year, Zente has scored a team-high 41 runs in 87 times on base, a 47.1% success rate. Since returning from injury, though, Zente has reached base 61 times in 24 games and scored a preposterous 34 times (55.7% success rate).

Stop Hitting Austen: Senior Austen Zente has been beaned 19 times this year, the fourth-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 broken the school record for most career HBP with 52 in just three full seasons of action.

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 (4th), runs (6th), home runs (10th), and games played (10th).

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 11-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 .309 average (34-for-110) in 33 appearances. Over the last 11 games, he is hitting .319 (15-for-47) with four extra-base hits, and has increased his season average 27 points to .274.

Up Next: High Point continues its road swing with a mid-week contest at Elon on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Panthers then trek to UNC Asheville for a three-game set next Friday-Sunday.

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