Box Score BLACKSBURG, Va. - After soundly defeating Virginia Tech in the fall, High Point University baseball was returned the favor this Tuesday, falling to the Hokies by a final of 16-1. Freshman Trent Harris and junior Ryan Russell continued their on base streaks to nine and seven games respectively, while freshmen arms KJ Wells and Jack Nathan each made shutout appearances on the mound. 

After opening their fourth contest in as many days with back-to-back singles from Evan Bergman and Ryan Russell, the Panthers fell behind the eight-ball early in Blacksburg, with the home side plating four runs in the first and another three in the third. The Purple & White tallied their lone run of the evening in the top half of the fourth on a double from starting catcher Daniel Millwee.

Following up his single with a leadoff eight-pitch walk in inning number four, Russell moved to second on a groundout in the ensuing at bat, before coming home on Millwee's extra base knock. The junior has reached first safely in his previous seven appearances now, averaging an OBP of .615 on his current streak, while Millwee's slugging percentage moves to a team-high .500 on the year.

The Hokies went on an eight-run tear in the bottom half of the fourth, before adding their final tally of the night in the eighth. Relief arms KJ Wells, Jack Nathan and Nick Niarchos each posted a shutout frame for the Panthers, as Nathan is yet to surrender a run in 2019. The freshman tossed a perfect seventh inning in HPU's loss, while Wells faced one over the minimum in his second inning of work.

>> Travis Holt and Sam Zayicek each went 1-for-3 on the afternoon with the latter collecting a knock for a sixth straight appearance
>> Wells has made four straight appearances out of the pen without surrendering a run, posting a WHIP of .60 since March 5th
>> With his seventh inning walk, freshman Trent Harris has touched first safely in his last nine contests, averaging an OBP of .412 during that span

COMING UP NEXT
The Panthers get back on the road this weekend, continuing their Big South schedule with a trip to USC Upstate. High Point is 1-1 against their new conference opponents in the D1 era, splitting a home-and-home series with the Spartans back in 2008.

#GoHPU