Eight scoreless defensive innings and timely hitting helped the High Point University baseball team to a 5-4 victory over Winthrop. Carter Sheppard picked up the win on the mound in 7.0 innings pitched and six strikeouts. Charlie Klingler and Cole Singsank led the Panthers with two hits apiece at the plate.

Mood heading into the 9th inning #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/NAVA6cIDO7

— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 26, 2022

 
Site: Williard Stadium (High Point, N.C.)
Score: High Point 5, Winthrop 4
Records: High Point (8-14, 3-1), Winthrop (5-15, 0-1)
 
Head coach Joey Hammond: "I can't say enough about a game like this. You give up four runs without getting an out in the first inning on a Friday night, in any league and the percentages of winning are really low. I can't say enough good things about Carter Sheppard, stringing tons of zeros up after that, and it does so many things. It not only allows our offense to get back in the game, which it did, but also saves your bullpen for the rest of the weekend. And then ultimately we come out of this with a win on top of it and it speaks a lot about him and his fight. I'm really proud of our offense for stacking at bats and climbing our way back in here against a tough pitcher. We just kept climbing and just kept chipping away. We had good plays in there; we throw guy out of the plate on a relay, we had double plays, we had good hard ninety on a flyball to centerfield that results in a triple, and then Charlie with a really tough at bat drives in that big run to go ahead. So there's so many unbelievable things, say I can't say enough about how proud I am, but we say this a lot when things aren't going well. We have to turn the page so it's the same thing here. We're going to enjoy this for about five minutes and then turn the page. We've got a chance with teddy on the mound tomorrow to win a series, and they're hard to come by and we have the opportunity to come out here and do that tomorrow."
 
Panther Particulars
While Winthrop used eight hits to score four runs in the top of the first inning, HPU slowly started chipping away to give life to the offense. Peyton Carr recorded the first Panther hit of the night with a stand up double before Cole Singsank traded places with him to put HPU on the board.

Panthers on the board!@CSingsank knocks in @PeytonCarr11 with an RBI double.#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/Pg935AMhSr

— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 25, 2022

 
Sheppard settled in, retiring eight of the next 10 Eagles in order to give High Point the chance to tack more runs on the board. Singsank walked to lead off the fourth inning before Josh Deslauriers hit the first home run of his career to put the Panthers back within 4-3.

pic.twitter.com/cupdCOJYB6

— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 25, 2022

 
Adam Stuart tied up the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth with a single swing as he homered to left field with his second long ball of the season.

STU SENDS IT OUT! @AJStuart20 #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/lal3oCATE3

— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 25, 2022

 
After trading zeros on the scoreboard in the sixth inning, High Point found another opportunity in the seventh to take the lead as Jackson Melton used a high fly ball to center field that was lost in the lights to record a stand-up triple. Klingler followed up with the go-ahead RBI-single to right center that would be deciding run in the game.

Melton hits a stand up triple and the Panthers are 90 feet from taking the lead! #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/1yylZad6hS

— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 25, 2022

CHARLIE GIVES HPU THE LEAD ????#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/PbWNxfTKK5

— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 25, 2022

 
Sean Duffy and Everett Vaughan combined to finish out the final two innings while Vaughan picked up his third save of the season.
 
Up Next: HPU meets the Eagles on the diamond tomorrow for Saturday night's 6 p.m. first pitch in Williard Stadium.