TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The High Point University baseball played the final game of the weekend series with No. 20 Alabama on Sunday afternoon. Unable to get the bats rolling in the second half of the game, the Panthers came up short by two runs for a final score of 2-4.
Holding the Crimson Tide to four runs recorded the closest deficit between any team No. 20 Alabama has faced in their first eight games. Prior to this weekend, the Crimson Tide outscored their first three opponents in five games, 56-9 averaging 11.2 runs per game. The tams closest matchup was against Tennessee Tech with a 7-4 defeat. Following the matchup with the Panthers, Alabama outscored HPU 23-12, dropping their average to 7.6 between the three games.
Site: Sewell-Thomas Stadium
Score: High Point 2, No. 20 Alabama 4
Records: High Point (3-4), No. 20 Alabama (8-0)
Head Coach
Joey Hammond: "Certainly not the result we wanted or expected today (or the weekend as a whole). I'm proud of the professionalism and approach our guys had to come in and compete in 27 highly competitive innings vs a top 20 team in the country. Today we simply allowed too many free bases (9 walks and 3 HBp) where Bama didn't have to earn anything. That catches up to you every time. But even with that- we had the tying run at the plate with last years leading home run hitter. Our fight was impressive all week and we were literally a couple inches away from a grand slam and game changing moment. I am confident that if we approach each game like we did this weekend we will finish the year and accomplish everything we set out to accomplish at the onset of the season."
Starting on the mound for High Point was
Gus Hughes who threw 4.21 innings, striking out five of the 17 batters faced.
It was a slow, low scoring game, only seeing run action in four out of the nine innings.
Alabama punched first with a single-run homer over left field in the bottom of the third inning. The Crimson Tide added two more in their next at bat after loading the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly to center field sent the runner on third home to make it 2-0 Alabama. With runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed both runners to advance one base and go up 3-0 on the Panthers.
High Point got things going in the top of the fifth, a double from
Cole Singsank to the left field corner put runners in scoring position.
Brett Ahalt's sacrifice fly to right field allowed
Trenton Pallas to mark HPU's first run. Following up Ahalt's pop fly,
Javon Fields snuck one up the middle to bring Singsank home, making it 2-3, Alabama.
In the Crimson Tide's next at bat, a single through the left side gap contributed to another run for Alabama.
Remaining within two runs, the Panthers held off the Crimson Tide from scoring again with third out strikeouts from
Everett Vaughan and
David Keith in the sixth and seventh innings respectively.
High Point defensively held off Alabama from adding more runs to the board but the Panthers two hits through the final four innings was not enough to close the gap.
#GoHPU
