Game Notes

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team continue its eight-game road trip with a mid-week make-up at Elon on Tuesday at 6 p.m. HPU and Elon were scheduled to meet on Apr. 24, but the game was postponed due to weather. Elon won the first matchup this year, 13-9, at Williard Stadium on Apr. 3. HPU is 4-6 in mid-week games this year, winning its last two against North Carolina A&T and Wake Forest.
 

Date	HPU Probable Pitcher	Elon Probable Pitcher	Live Video	Live Stats
Tuesday, May 8 6 p.m.	TBA	TBA	N/A	Link

  
History vs. Elon: High Point and Elon have met 43 times on the diamond in the Div. I era, including at least one matchup every year since 2000. The two teams split two games last with each winning on the other's home field. Elon grabbed the first matchup this season, 13-9, on Apr. 3 at Williard Stadium.

HPU has won the last two meetings at Latham Park in 2016 (8-2) and 2017 (5-3). The Panthers are looking to avoid the first multi-game series sweep since 2012.

The Phoenix: Elon enters Tuesday having dropped two of three over the weekend to Delaware. Overall, the Phoenix have lost three of four after winning 10 of the previous 11 games. Elon has played much better at home this season, holding a 19-11 record on its home turf.

The Phoenix are led by Ryne Ogren at the plate. Ogren is hitting .339 with 16 extra-base hits. As a team, the Phoenix are hitting .258 while averaging 5.6 runs per game. Elon pitchers have posted a 3.31 ERA while holding opponents to a .220 average.

About The Weekend: The Panthers suffered just their second conference series loss of the year, dropping two of three at first place Campbell over the weekend. HPU's pitchers limited the Camels to just eight earned runs and a .179 average, but were undone by CU's small ball. Sophomore Joe Johnson posted a quality start on Saturday, giving up two runs on two hits in seven innings for his third win of the year.

High Point's offense struggled to get going, hitting just .169 in the three-game set while being held to two hits on Friday and Sunday. Senior Hunter Lee hit safely in all four games, going 4-for-9 with two runs scored and an RBI.

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). Even with two losses this past weekend, HPU has tied its best conference start ever at 12-6, matching the mark from 2016. The Panthers need five wins in their final six Big South games to tie the school record for most conference wins (18-9, 2014).

Unlikely Source Stabilizes Rotation: Sophomore Joe Johnson has come on and provided three tremendous starts since joining the rotation on April 14. Johnson had never made a start and had made just 16 relief appearances in two years prior to his start at Gardner-Webb, but has allowed only three earned runs in 19.1 innings in three starts (1.40 ERA) since.

Johnson has matched his career high with seven innings pitched twice, and set a new career best with six strikeouts at Campbell on Saturday.

Inside The Numbers: HPU possesses the Big South's second-highest RPI at 127. High Point has four top-50 RPI wins (Coastal Carolina x2, Ohio State, UNCG) while the rest of the league has five combined.

With a strength of schedule at 161 entering Tuesday, HPU has played the second-toughest schedule in the Big South (Campbell, 159).

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

HPU continues to leads the Big South and ranks 36th nationally in homers this year with 47, including 31 against the Big South in 21 games. The Panthers started slow, hitting only three homers in the first 13 games, but have struck for 44 blasts in the last 30 contests.

High Point has surpassed its total from last year (43) and is nine 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 40 of 44 games this year and is still riding a 36-game on-base streak, reaching safely in each game against Campbell this weekend.

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 .343 (36-for-105) with four doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 36 runs scored, and 25 RBI.

This year, Zente has scored a team-high 43 runs in 92 times on base, a 46.7% success rate. Since returning from injury, though, Zente has reached base 66 times in 27 games and scored a preposterous 36 times (54.5% success rate).

Keep Hitting Austen: Senior Austen Zente has been beaned 22 times this year, the second-most in the NCAA. This is nothing new for Zente, who was hit by 21 pitches a year ago, and now owns the third- and fourth-most single-season HBP. The He is three shy of tying the single-season school record (Nate Roberts, 25, 2008)

Zente has already broken the school record for most career HBP with 55 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 at-bats (2nd), hits (3rd), RBI (4th), runs (6th), games played (9th), and home runs (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 an 11-game hitting streak that was ended on Friday.

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 .287 average (35-for-122) in 36 appearances. Over his 11-game hitting streak, he hit .319 (15-for-47) with four extra-base hits, and increased his season average 27 points to .274.

Up Next: High Point hits the road for a three-game conference series at UNC Asheville Friday-Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the opener, followed by a 3 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. first pitch in the finale.


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