GREENSBORO, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team went 2-0 at North Carolina A&T while tying two program pitching records. In game two,
Sam Garcia and
Sean Duffy combine for the shutout while Garcia struck a program record-tying 13 batters. Duffy added four strikeouts in relief to tie the HPU team single-game strikeout record.
Site: World War Memorial Stadium
Game 1 Score: High Point 5, North Carolina A&T 3
W: Carter Sheppard (5-5)
S: Everett Vaughan (5)
Game 2 Score: High Point 1, North Carolina A&T 0
W: Sam Garcia (4-3)
S: Sean Duffy (2)
Records: High Point (18-28, 9-8), North Carolina A&T (13-32, 1-16)
Game One
The Panthers got out to a quick start in the first game of the doubleheader as
Blake Sutton homered in the second inning to put HPU on the board.
Carter Sheppard struck out two batters each in the third and fifth innings and finished with eight strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work.
High Point added another run in the third inning as
Javon Fields singled on a bunt and advanced to second base on a walk drawn by
Peyton Carr.
Charlie Klingler reached base on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners and Fields scored on a wild pitch.
The Panther bats were quiet until the eighth inning, when
Andrew Amato drew a lead-off walk before Sutton hit his second home run of the game and extend the HPU lead, 4-1.
Sam Zayicek followed up Sutton's two-run shot with a long ball of his own to add an insurance run.
Everett Vaughan finished out the game on the mound for High Point, tallying a strikeout and sealing the 5-3 win for the purple and white.
Game Two
Thanks to a shutdown performance on the mound from the Panther pitching staff, HPU needed only one run in the top of the first inning to pick up its second win of the day. Fields singled up the middle and moved over to second base on a wild pitch. Carr reached base on an error while Fields advanced to third and scored on Klingler's sacrifice fly out.
Garcia got to work early, striking out two batters in six of the seven innings he threw. Duffy also struck out two batters apiece in the eighth and ninth innings to earn the save on the mound.
#GoHPU
