HIGH POINT, N.C. - A slow start from High Point University baseball secured a game three loss for the Panthers against visiting Campbell this Monday, falling to the Camels by a final score of 8-2. 

The Purple & White fell behind early in the finale of their Big South opening series, with Campbell putting up four runs in the opening frame. The Panthers battled back in the second however, after freshman catcher Brian Rall drove in his third run of the year on a squeeze bunt down the right field line.

Sophomore Travis Holt led the bottom of the second off with a single through the left side, before getting erased from the base paths on a fielder's choice in the following at bat. Reaching first on the play, Sam Zayicek moved himself over to scoring position on some head's up base running, taking second on a wild pitch to Trent Harris. A dropped fly ball saw Harris touch first base, as a sacrifice squeeze bunt from Rall moved the third baseman to second, with Zayicek coming across for the Panthers' first run of the day. 

The next five innings belonged to the Camels, as the visiting club added a run in the third, hung another pair in the fifth and scored their final tally of the night in the seventh to make it 8-1.

After securing a single in the sixth, Harris added his second hit of the night in the ninth, collecting a solo shot deep over the left-center wall. The long ball was the first of the freshman's HPU career, as the infielder has reached first safely in his previous eight games overall. 

A drawn walk from Brian Rall represented the Panthers' final base runner of the day, as the High Point offense was unable to come back from a deep deficit in the final stanza, falling to the Camels by a score of 8-2.

Freshmen arms Bryan Woelfel and Jack Nathan combined for a shutout eighth inning against the Camels, in addition to a perfect ninth from right-hander Nick Niarchos to close things. Tossing the final four frames of the night, the Panther bullpen surrendered just a single earned run, with three strikeouts, a pair of hits and single walk.

>> Holt continues to swing the bat well, as the Panther infielder extended his hitting streak to five straight games. He's earned a knock in all but two of his 17 appearances to start the year
>> Woelfel and Nathan are both yet to surrender a run in their careers with High Point, throwing 2.1 innings apiece in 2019
>> Harris' two-hit night follows up the pair of knocks he had against the Camels on Sunday, finishing the series 4-for-12 (.333) in the box
>> Junior Ryan Russell reached three times against Campbell on Monday, drawing a pair of walks and his third hit by pitch of the season
>> Harris and Russell currently lead the Panthers with OBPs of .426 and .391 respectively

COMING UP NEXT
The Panthers will play their fourth game in as many days this Tuesday, traveling to Blacksburg for a midweek matchup against Virginia Tech. HPU provided an 11-6 victory against Tech during nine innings of a fall scrimmage this past offseason, adding another six runs against the Hokie pitching staff in two additional frames of exhibition play. 

#GoHPU