HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team took a 12-6 loss on Sunday afternoon against Toledo. The Panthers wrapped up the series in Williard Stadium with an overall record of 1-7.
Site: Williard Stadium (High Point, N.C.)
Score: High Point 6, Toledo 12
Records: High Point (1-7, 0-0), Toledo (4-4, 0-0)
Head coach
Joey Hammond: "We were hoping to build on some momentum from last night, and we had some elements that we had to overcome. We talked about this in the early spring, that we're going to have days and games like this where the elements are going to come into play, and we need to be prepared for it. Unfortunately, we didn't respond the way that we needed to and we allowed it to affect us and fell behind early. We had a little adversity earlier on a bang-bang play at first that I thought I had an opportunity to get us back in the game. It didn't go our way, and we've got to be able to respond to that. Until we can get away from being so results driven and be more focused on our process and our plan, it's going to be a struggle for us from time to time. I thought
Sean Duffy did a really good job of eating some innings for us there when things were tough, and our guys fought. We got a lot of guys opportunities midway through the game and they came in and took advantage of their at bats to kind of try to claw themselves back in to make it a game. But it's just too big of a gap to overcome and unfortunately, we weren't able to build on some momentum from yesterday."
Panther Particulars
While a rain delay pushed first pitch back 45 minutes, the Rocket bats were hot as the visitors scored multiple runs in the first, third, fourth, and fifth innings. A sacrifice fly plated the first run for Toledo in the top of the first before an RBI-single to left field gave the Rockets the 2-0 advantage.
David Keith walked the first batter in the top of the second, but
Blake Sutton threw the runner out at second on an attempted steal. While the next batter was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Keith worked out of the jam, forcing a flyout to center field and caught the next batter looking for his first strikeout of the day.
Toledo plated two more runs in the top of the third with a two-run homer to left center and an RBI-single to right center. The Rockets added another four runs in the fourth with three RBI-singles and a sacrifice fly to center field. Toledo held a 9-0 lead in the top of the fifth, where the visitors' lead grew with two more RBI-singles to put the Rockets up 11-0.
The Panthers saw an offensive spark in the sixth inning as Sutton singled to the shortstop and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.
Cole Singsank drew a four-pitch walk before pinch hitter
Jackson Melton doubled down the left field line, advancing both runners and plating the first HPU run.
Cameron Irvine was hit by a pitch to load the bases when
Justin Ebert came in clutch with a two-RBI single down the left side to score Singsank and Melton.
Sam Zayicek drew a four-pitch walk after a pitching substitution from Toledo to load the bases again, but Ebert was thrown out at third on a fielder's choice before a pop up ended the threat.
Toledo plated an unearned run in the top of the ninth but
Patrick Libby responded with one of his two strikeouts of the inning to give the Panther bats another chance, down 12-4.
Josh Deslauriers led off with a single through the left side and took second base on a wild pitch. With two outs,
Tyler Leach singled to third base on a ball that came off the bat at 107 miles per hour, scoring Deslauriers.
Leach also got into scoring position on a wild pitch.
Andrew Amato singled up the middle, scoring Leach and putting the Panthers within 12-6. While Amato stole second, a strikeout ended the game and the rally for HPU.
Up Next: The Panthers travel to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, March 1
st for another midweek game. First pitch will be thrown at 4 p.m.
#GoHPU
