High Point hits the road to play its first Big South series away from home as the Panthers visit the Longwood Lancers for three games at Buddy Bolding Stadium. Both teams are 1-5 in Big South play.

SERIES INFO
Friday, March 31 - vs. Longwood (Buddy Bolding Stadium) 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS
Saturday, April 1 - vs. Longwood (Buddy Bolding Stadium) 2 p.m.
LIVE STATS
Sunday, April 2 - vs. Longwood (Buddy Bolding Stadium) 1 p.m.
WATCH | LIVE STATS

Matchup History

High Point is 21-12 all-time against Longwood. The Lancers have won four of the last five matchups. Longwood took two of the three games played between the two teams last season. The Panthers lone win over the Lancers last year came on April 9, a walk-off double by Miggy Echazarreta. The series was low-scoring as Longwood only outscored the Panthers 11-10. 

Across the Diamond

• Longwood is 9-18 to start the season, 1-5 in Big South play.
• The Lancers have played just 10 home games thus far, going 6-4 in those contests.
• Sunday starter Andrew Potojecki leads the Big South in ERA at 1.77. Potojecki also has given up the fewest earned runs in the conference and has issued the least amount of walks among Big South starting pitchers.
• Infielder Eliot Dix leads the Lancers in batting average at .412, a mark that is also third in the Big South. Dix enters the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak and has homered in back-to-back games.
• In the field, Longwood has made the fewest errors of any team in the Big South (21) and lead the conference in fielding percentage at .978.

Panther Particulars

Gone Streaking
Redshirt sophomore Brett Ahalt sports a 17-game hitting streak heading into Tuesday. The Panthers center fielder is hitting .408 over that span with seven home runs and 13 RBI. Ahalt's 17-game hitting streak is the longest by any Panther this season. It is the longest hitting streak by any Panther since Austen Zente hit safely in 28 straight games back in 2018.

Dingers
As a team, the Panthers have hit 41 home runs through the first 24 games of the season. It is the first time since 2019 that High Point has hit 40 home runs or more in a single season. The 41 home runs mark is tied for 24th in the nation.

Fields Approaching 200 Hits and Games
Redshirt senior Javon Fields is currently sitting on 199 career hits. There are currently 41 active NCAA division 1 players with 200 hits or more. Fields is also nine games away from 200 career games played. The Panther outfielder is tied for 27th among active NCAA division 1 players in games played.  

Sutton Doubles Home Run Total From 2022
Redshirt junior Blake Sutton hit his team-best 10th home run of the season on Sunday. With his 10 home runs, the Panthers catcher has doubled 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. He is also tied for 17th in the nation.

Ahalt and Klingler Surpass Home Run Totals From 2022
Outfielders Brett Ahalt and Charlie Klingler have blown past their home run totals from a season ago. Ahalt is up to nine home runs after hitting just two while with George Mason in 2022. Klingler hit just one home run a season ago and has three in 2023.

Simpson Hits First Career Home Run
Freshman Brayden Simpson hit his first career home run on Saturday against USC Upstate. Simpson has started each of the last six games at second base for the Panthers and is tied for third on the team in doubles (4). 
 

BOOYAH ??

Brayden Simpson launches his 1??st career home run ????#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/FgHs6jX7gq
— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 26, 2023
 

Halladay Hits New Career-High
Redshirt junior Braden Halladay has been reliable on the mound for the Panther in a bullpen role. The right-hander worked a career-high 2.2 innings against USC Upstate this past Friday, not allowing a run on just one hit. Halladay has worked at least two innings in each of his last four outings. 

Chatham Records 200th Career Hit
With a multi-hit game against Davidson on March 7, graduate student Cael Chatham reached 200 career hits. After spending his first four years at division 3 LaGrange, the Panther third baseman has now totaled 216 career hits. That total is tied for 57th in the nation among all active NCAA players. 
 

2??0??0??th career HIT for @caelchatham ??????#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/n7Hl5lzLqP
— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) March 7, 2023
 

Co-Freshman of the Week
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
Junior right-hander 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 second in the Big South and tied for 31st in the country in strikeouts with 44.
 
Freshmen Action
In the Lafayette series, the team witnessed the first collegiate starts for freshmen Brayden Simpson at second base and Pokorak at first. Simpson recorded a game-high six RBIs on March 5th. Pokorak is hitting .289 through his first 16 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.
 

SUTTON WITH THE WALK-OFF GRAND SLAMMM!! ??????#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/NRx5t70i5l
— High Point Baseball (@HPUBaseball) February 18, 2023
 

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.