The High Point University baseball team closes out the regular season schedule this weekend with a three-game series at Presbyterian. The Panthers are seeking their 18th Big South Tournament berth while Presbyterian looks to repeat as tournament champions. 

Series Information -- High Point at Presbyterian | PC Baseball Complex | Clinton, S.C.
Thursday, May 19th | 6:00 PM
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Friday, May 20th | 3:00 PM
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Saturday, May 21st | 1:00 PM
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Panthers vs. Blue Hose

• High Point is 18-13 all-time against Presbyterian and 6-6 in games played in Clinton.
• The Blue Hose swept the Panthers last season in High Point, but HPU picked up a series win in 2019 in Clinton (2-1) before taking a 15-4 victory in Fayetteville in the conference tournament.

Across the Diamond

• The Blue Hose are 22-29 on the season and 9-12 in Big South contests.
• Presbyterian is riding a seven-game losing streak heading into the weekend after falling 18-3 to No. 25 Georgia on Tuesday night.
• Head coach Elton Polluck is in his 18th season as skipper of the Blue Hose after leading Presbyterian to its first Big South Tournament Championship in program history.
• PC earned a spot in the 2021 Nashville regional that saw them face host Vanderbilt and Indiana State.

A Look Around the Big South
The Panthers are currently fourth in the conference after last weekend's series behind Campbell, USC Upstate, and UNC Asheville. The top six teams will earn a bid into the 2022 Big South Tournament. While Campbell and Upstate have each clinched tournament berths, seven other teams are still in the hunt.

High Point Chasing Tournament Bid
The Panthers are looking to seal their spot in the Big South Tournament, held at Truist Point beginning May 25th. This would be HPU's 18th overall Big South Tournament appearance and first since the 2019 season after 2020's tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Panthers Hand Camels Rare Loss
The High Point Panthers were just the third Big South team to give the Campbell Camels a loss in league play this season. HPU's 11-10 victory is their first over Campbell since a 9-4 win on March 23, 2021.

HPU Earns Second Sweep of 2022
With Monday afternoon's win over A&T, the Panthers recorded their second series sweep of the season after blitzing College of Charleston (March 4-6).

Panther Pitchers Sweep Big South Weekly Awards
The HPU pitching staff was honored with the Big South starting pitcher and reliever of the week awards on Monday afternoon (May 9th). Sam Garcia earned starter of the week after his 13 strikeout, 1 hit, 0 run outing on Sunday while Sean Duffy threw two perfect innings to take home reliever of the week.

Garcia's Record-Tying Day Propels Panthers
Sam Garcia threw a program record-tying 13 strikeouts at North Carolina A&T on Sunday while giving up just one hit and one walk in the shutout win.

Home Run Derby in Greensboro
Sam Zayicek and Blake Sutton hit two homers apiece in HPU's series at North Carolina A&T. On Sunday, Sutton hit a solo shot in the second inning of game one before he added a two-run bomb in the 8th. Zayicek followed up with another long ball in the next at bat for another insurance run.

In Monday afternoon's contest, Zayicek homered again after Sutton got on base with a triple for two RBI.

HPU Pitching Staff Makes Jump
High Point pitchers have seen major improvement in team ERA from just a season ago. In 2021, the Panthers finished 6th in the Big South as a team in ERA (5.95). This season, HPU's hurlers are second in the league in conference game ERA (5.25) while Campbell registers the lowest (4.98).

ACC Wins Highlight Big Week
High Point picked up two wins over ACC opponents in the last week, walking-off an 11-9 win over Wake Forest in Williard Stadium before shutting out Duke 11-0 in Durham. Sunday's shutout was the first time in program history that the Panthers shutout a Power 5 opponent.

Panther Pitchers Put in Work at Duke
Four HPU Pitchers were called to the mound in Sunday's night cap at Duke. Sean Duffy got the start and threw 3.0 innings until a weather delay paused the game for nearly two hours. Duffy gave up just one hit and one walk while striking out one batter.

Sam Garcia picked up the win as he struck out five batters in 3.0 innings while scattering three hits. Connor Smith pitched 1.0 inning but retired the Blue Devils in order with a pop up and two ground outs.

Everett Vaughan closed out the night with 2.0 innings of work while striking out the side in the 9th inning to give HPU the shutout victory.

HPU Picked Eighth in Preseason Poll
High Point was tabbed eighth in the Big South preseason coaches' poll on January 27th. Campbell was the league favorite with eight first-place votes and 116 total points in the poll.

Trio of Panthers Highlight D1 Baseball Big South Prospects
D1 Baseball released their Big South preview including top 2022 and 2023 draft prospects. Carter Sheppard was listed as the third-highest prospect in 2022 to come out of the conference. Sheppard finished 2021 with 45 strikeouts in 48.0 innings pitched.

Blake Sutton also cracked the top-20, slotted 16th. Sutton started 36 games behind the plate for the Panthers last season, hitting .282/.363/.366 and recording 237 putouts.

Javon Fields rounded out High Point's top prospects at No. 30. Fields transferred to HPU from Towson, where he was the starting center fielder. He finished 2021 with a .257/.363/.384 line and had a .984 fielding percentage.

Carr Top-3 Big South Prospect in 2023
In the list of 2023 draft prospects, sophomore Peyton Carr was tabbed the third-best pick from the conference. Carr finished 2021 with the second-best team batting average, hitting .304/.494/.376 for the season.

Big South Tournament at Truist Point
The Big South conference announced in December that the 2022 conference tournament would be held at Truist Point in High Point.

HPU has not played in the conference tournament since the 2019 season, when the Panthers fell to No. 3 Winthrop in a 6-2 ballgame.

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