After starting Big South play this past weekend, High Point will play another ranked opponent in the midweek as they face off against #8 Virginia on Tuesday.

GAME INFO
Tuesday, March 21 - at #8 Virginia (Disharoon Park) 4 p.m.
WATCH | LIVE STATS

Matchup History

The Panthers are 0-2 lifetime against the Cavaliers. The two teams last met in 2012.

Across the Diamond

• Virginia is 17-2 on the season, 4-2 in ACC play.
• The Cavaliers are tied with Louisville for the second most wins of any ACC team. Virginia is in second place in the ACC coastal division.
• Virginia took two games out of three against #23 NC State in Raleigh this past weekend.
• The Cavaliers started the season with 14 straight victories, a stretch which included sweeps of Columbia and Rhode Island and two wins over #14 North Carolina. 
• At the plate, Virginia is led by junior catcher Kyle Teel, who is hitting .444 to lead all division 1 starting catchers. Junior infielder Jake Gelof leads the Cavaliers with six home runs. 
• As a team, Virginia is leading the ACC with a .335 team batting average, which ranks fourth in the nation.
• As a pitching staff, Virginia has a collective 2.63 ERA which is good for second in the ACC and ranks seventh nationally.

Panther Particulars
 
Gone Streaking
Brett Ahalt sports a 12-game hitting streak heading into Tuesday. The outfielder is hitting .412 over that span with four home runs and 10 RBI. Ahalt's 12-game hitting streak is the longest by any Panther this season.

Dingers
As a team, the Panthers have hit 31 home runs through the first 19 games of the season. That mark is ranked 30th in the nation.

Sutton Surpasses Home Run Total From 2022
Blake Sutton hit his ninth home run of the season on Sunday. With his nine home runs, the redshirt junior surpassed his home run total from last season (5). Sutton hit five of his home runs through the first four games of the season and is tied for the Big South lead in home runs. His total also ranks 12th in the nation.

On Base Machine
Adam Stuart has reached base in all 19 games this season. The shortstop has the longest on-base streak of any Panther this season.

Co-Freshman of the Week
Freshman, Brayden Simpson was named Big South Co-Freshman of the Week (Feb. 27-Mar. 5), after going 3-for-8 on the weekend series with eight RBI. He batted .444 to go along with a .571 slugging percentage.
 
Strikeout City
Gus Hughes set a new single game program record on Sunday, March 5th in the final game of the four-game series with Lafayette. Hughes 15 strikeouts during the seven-inning run-rule game surpassed the previous 13 strikeouts set in 2022 by Sam Garcia at North Carolina A&T. Hughes is currently tied for 24th in the country in strikeouts with 39.
 
Freshman Action
In the Lafayette series, the team witnessed the first collegiate starts for freshmen Brayden Simpson at second base and Jack Pokorak at first. Simpson recorded a game-high six RBIs on March 5th. Pokorak is hitting .324 through his first 11 games as a Panther with two home runs and eight runs batted in.

Hot Bats for Sutton
Sutton opened the 2023 season in quite the fashion... grand slam fashion to be exact. In the opening afternoon contest, the Bulldogs and Panthers were tied going into the bottom of the ninth, but with bases loaded, Sutton smacked a walk-off grand slam for HPU's first win of the season. Sutton was not done though. In less than 24 hours he hit two more home runs in the 7-6 win on Saturday afternoon, ending the series with a .364 batting average. The redshirt junior would hit two more home runs against Appalachian State for his second multi home run game of the season.

2^nd Ever Program Sweep for Opening Weekend
High Point opened the 2023 season with a series sweep over Bryant, marking the second time ever in program history. High Point started 3-0 for the first time since 2020.
 
HPU Picked Third in Preseason Poll
High Point was tabbed third in the Big South preseason coaches' poll on January 26th. Campbell was the league favorite with six first-place votes and 93 total points in the poll.
 
Quartet of Panthers Highlight D1 Baseball Big South Prospects
D1 Baseball released its top 40 2023 draft prospects from the Big South. Out of the 40-man list, Sam Garcia was ranked seventh, while pitchers Gus Hughes and Carter Sheppard were ranked 11th and 16th respectively. Outfielder Brett Ahalt also made the listing and placed 26th. 

D1 Baseball's Starting Pitchers
Garcia also made D1 Baseball's top 200 starting pitchers, coming in at 127.
 
New and Old Kids on the Block
High Point returns 11 pitchers and nine position players from last season, while adding 11 transfers and 10 freshmen to fill out the roster.
 
Last Season
High Point finished 2022 with a record of 22-33, 14-10 in Big South play finishing fourth in the Big South standings. HPU won 10 of its final 14 regular season games. The Panthers won 12 home games last season, doubling their home win total from the season before. High Point was eliminated by UNC Asheville in the 2022 Big South Tournament.