SERIES INFO

Saturday, March 6 -- vs. UNC Asheville (Williard Stadium, High Point, N.C.), 1 p.m.
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Saturday, March 6 -- vs. UNC Asheville (Williard Stadium, High Point, N.C.), Approx. 4:30 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch | Game Notes
 
Sunday, March 7 -- vs. UNC Asheville (Williard Stadium, High Point, N.C.), 1 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch | Game Notes
 
Originally scheduled to play Winthrop this weekend, the High Point University baseball team (2-4, 0-0 Big South) will instead begin its conference slate against UNC Asheville (1-4, 0-0 Big South) at Williard Stadium this weekend. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday (March 6) beginning at 1 p.m. and then conclude the series with a game on Sunday (March 7) that will also start at 1 p.m.
 

Matchup History

• High Point and UNC Asheville have met 65 times since HPU joined Division I, with the Panthers holding a 43-22 advantage in the series.
• HPU has enjoyed quite a bit of recent success against the Bulldogs, winning the last seven matchups as part of a larger stretch of 21 of the last 23 meetings.
• The last game between the two came in the first game of the 2019 Big South Tournament, which HPU won 2-0.

 

Across the Diamond

• Asheville is 1-4 on the season, with one weekend series played so far.
• The Bulldogs opened up their campaign with a win at Western Carolina before losing three straight over the weekend at East Tennessee State.
• Asheville had its first home game of the season this past Tuesday against Wofford, falling to the Terriers in 11 innings, 10-9.
• Asheville is tied for the conference lead in sacrifice bunts so far this season, laying down six to sit 14th in the nation.
• PJ Heintz has the best batting average for Asheville, coming into Saturday's doubleheader batting .400. Two more Bulldogs bat over .300 on the year in Sebastian Dunn and Ty Kaufman at .368 and .350, respectively, with both tied for the team lead in hits with seven.
• Justin Honeycutt has pitched in three games out of the bullpen and has yet to allow a run, conceding just two hits in six innings of action.
• Projected game one starter Jacob Edwards has logged as many innings of work as Honeycutt, entering the doubleheader with five earned runs surrendered in six innings over two starts.

 

Panther Notes

Last Time Out

High Point is coming off its second series of the season, this time going 1-2 against triad foes UNC Greensboro. After dropping the first two games of the series, High Point picked up a 4-3 win in the second half of Sunday's doubleheader (Feb. 28). Graduate student Chris Apecechea picked up the win after throwing four shutout innings of relief and collecting four strikeouts with just one hit. Graduate student Joe Johnson picked up six hits over the weekend, having multi-hit games in each of the three games. The outfielder is now batting a team-best .435 at the plate.  
 

Going Streaking

Johnson continued his hot start to the season, picking up six hits over the three games, with two in each game. That extends his career-long hitting streak to 13 games dating back to last season. The streak started on Feb. 25, 2020 meaning Johnson has gotten a hit in every game he's played in for High Point over the last calendar year.
 

Not so Lyttle

Graduate student Grey Lyttle finds himself in second place in the Big South in total strikeouts after two starts with 15 on the season, including a season-high eight in last Saturday's start. He's racked up the 15 Ks and issued only two walks for a conference-best 7.50 strikeout to walk ratio.
 

It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

This weekend marks the beginning of the Big South portion of the Panthers' schedule, the first three-game series out of 40 games that will be played among conference opponents this year, marking the most Big South games the conference has played in a single season.
 

Ap Attack

Apecechea has been dominant this year and last and has yet to allow a run this season, picking up both of HPU's wins on the mound in the process. The graduate student hasn't allowed an earned run in either of the last two seasons, with his last earned run coming on April 3, 2019, at UNCG. Since then he's pitched 12 innings and only surrendered a total of five hits and six walks.
 

WHIP it Real Good

HPU is second in the Big South in WHIP entering conference play, allowing just 1.13 walks and hits each inning pitched, second only to USC Upstate.
 

Starting the Carr

Freshman Peyton Carr had quite the weekend against UNCG, starting all three games at third and picking up five hits in the series. He had his first career hit as part of a two-hit game on Saturday and then matched that performance with another two-hit effort in the first game of the doubleheader, picking up a double and his first RBI in the process.
 

Keeping it Close

All six of High Point's games this season have been decided by two runs or less. HPU has been in the game until the final pitch in each one, with the tying run either at the plate or on base in all six games, the longest stretch of two-run or closer games in HPU's Division I history to start a season.
 

Doubling Down

The Panthers are scheduled to play in 13 doubleheaders this season, the most in their Division I program history and the most since the Purple and White played two 11 times in 2002.
 

Fielding Cleanly

High Point currently leads the Big South in fielding percentage with a mark of .981, good for 36th in the country. After committing three errors in the first two games, the Panthers have settled down to allow just one since for a total of four on the season, the fewest number of errors committed in the conference.
 

It's a Steal

HPU stole a total of five bases in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader, the most since the Purple and White swiped five against Charleston Southern on March 31, 2019. The team averages 1.5 stolen bases each game so far this season, second in the conference and 44th in the country.
 

Limiting the Hitting

The Panthers only give up 5.77 hits per nine innings, the best mark in the Big South and 11th in the nation. High Point has held opponents to five or fewer hits three times in the first six games and has only allowed a maximum of eight hits in a game.
 

Dandy of a Debut

Cameron Irvine made his debut in the Purple and White in the second game against Bryant (Feb. 20) and immediately made an impact with three hits in four at bats.
 

You'll Always Remember Your First

After not picking up a hit in all of 2020, redshirt freshman Justin Wilkins knocked two base hits in the first win of the season for the first two of his career. To cap it off, his second hit was an RBI single, driving in the first run of the game.
 

Deja Vu

High Point was shutout in the season-opener on Friday (Feb. 19) in a 2-0 loss. The last time the Panthers were shutout in a game was last season in a 14-0 loss to No. 13 North Carolina - also on Feb. 19.
 

POINTing Out History

This year's season-opener marked the first NCAA Division I baseball game played at Truist Point. The two-year-old park and home of the High Point Rockers has hosted Division III games in the past but never a D1 contest until High Point hosted Bryant on Feb. 19. The Panthers returned downtown last weekend with a three-game series against UNCG, in what was originally scheduled to be the first Division I baseball games played at the park.
 

Familiar Faces

After being granted an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, four of last year's seniors are back for 2021 - Chris Apecechea, Joe Johnson, and Grey Lyttle return as graduate students while Ryan Russell returns as a redshirt senior for HPU. 
 

Fresh Faces

2021 welcomes 18 newcomers to the Panthers' roster, including 13 freshmen and 5 transfers. The incoming class includes seven North Carolina natives and players from six different states and Canada.
 

Big South Changes

In a year where things look a little different, the Big South announced the 2021 Big South Tournament will feature just the top four teams from the regular season. The tournament is scheduled to take place May 27-29 at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C. 
 
 
Up Next: Conference play continues when Radford occupies the third-base dugout next weekend (March 12-13) for a three-game series.