GAME INFO
Tuesday, Feb. 18 -- at North Carolina Central (Durham, N.C.), 4 p.m.
Listen | Live Stats
Wednesday, Feb. 19 -- at #13 North Carolina (Chapel Hill, N.C.), 3 p.m.
Stream: ACC Network Extra | Live Stats
 
The High Point University baseball team (3-0) looks to carry its momentum from its first-ever opening weekend sweep in HPU's Division I history with a pair of midweek matchups in the Triangle. The Panthers head to Durham on Tuesday (Feb. 18) for a matchup with North Carolina Central (0-3) before traveling to Chapel Hill on Wednesday (Feb. 19) to play North Carolina (3-0).
 
Tuesday's game against N.C. Central was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. but has been moved up to 4 p.m. due to weather concerns.
 
Matchup History

• High Point has played N.C. Central 10 times in its Division I history, holding a 7-3 record against the Eagles. HPU swept the season series a year ago, winning 10-1 on the road and 6-4 at Williard Stadium.
• High Point dropped the first game of the series but won the final two, shutting out the Leopards 4-0 in the series finale.
• The Panthers are 1-15 against North Carolina since 2000 with the lone win coming in 2009 against then No. 4 UNC, the highest-ranked opponent HPU has ever beaten.
• The two teams played in Chapel Hill a year ago, with the Tar Heels besting the Purple and White 7-0.

 
Panther Notes

• High Point had a historic weekend to start the 2020 campaign, completing its first opening-weekend sweep in its Division I history with a 3-1 victory over Lafayette in the series finale on Sunday.
• Three Panthers had seven or more hits on the weekend, led by junior Travis Holt with eight. Holt was the hero in the middle game of the series, picking up the game-tying RBI in the eighth and hitting the walk-off RBI single in the 10th.
• Right behind Holt are sophomores Sam Zayicek and Evan Bergman, each with seven hits. The two also lead the team in batting average after the first weekend, hitting .636 and .538, respectively.
• Zayicek also had an on-base percentage of .714 and a slugging percentage of 1.091 to lead the team and be named the Big South's Player of the Week.
• As a team, the Panthers hit 14 doubles, the third-most in the country, and their average of 4.67 doubles per game currently ranks second in all of D1.
• Zayicek, classmate Brady Pearre, and senior Joe Johnson all hit home runs on the weekend, with Johnson's coming in the game he pitched and ended up being the game-winning RBI to give himself the win.
• HPU's bullpen did a tremendous job against Lafayette, only allowing three earned runs in 14 and one-third innings of work. The Leopards only got nine hits off the Panther relievers and the bullpen only issued five walks while racking up 13 strikeouts.
• High Point picked up two saves on the weekend, both from freshmen. Carter Sheppard came in to relieve starter Harrison Smith in the sixth inning of game one and finished it out for the 3.2 inning save, allowing just one earned run with five hits while striking out six in his collegiate debut.
• Mason Kearney got the save in Sunday's game, facing the heart of the Lafayette lineup in the ninth and racking up two strikeouts with a hit and a walk. Kearney was named the Big South Player of the Week for his debut performance.

 
Across the Diamond

• N.C. Central has started the season 0-3, losing all three games to fellow Big South opponent Radford.
• The Eagles only managed to score a total of nine runs in the series but made Saturday's game close, holding the Highlanders to three runs in a 3-2 loss.
• Senior infielder Myles Coston leads NCCU's offense with a .417 batting average over the first three games. Right behind him are Michael Alicea and Kobe Phillips, each batting .400.
• North Carolina is ranked in every major national poll, sitting at No. 22 in the D1Baseball poll, No. 19 in the Baseball America poll, No. 16 in the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll, No. 19 in the NCBWA poll, and No. 13 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
• The Tar Heels started off their season with an opening weekend sweep of Middle Tennessee that was eerily similar to High Point's. UNC won the first game in a blowout, took game two with a walk-off and won the third in a close game.
• North Carolina hosts Elon on Tuesday before welcoming the Panthers to Boshamer Stadium.
• Dylan Harris hit .500 with two solo home runs on the weekend to lead the Tar Heel's offense. Will Sandy started the middle game for UNC and went seven innings in a no decision, giving up one run on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

 
Up Next: High Point returns home this weekend (Feb. 21-23) for a three-game series with Towson before hosting a rematch with N.C. Central a week from the first meeting (Feb. 25).