HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University Baseball team won the first game of the doubleheader but fell short in the second game against UMass-Lowell on Saturday afternoon.
Game 1:
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 6, UMass-Lowell 1
Records: High Point (1-1, 0-0), UMass-Lowell (1-1, 0-0)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "We were able to come away with a win for the first one of the year. That's great to break the seal on that and it was simple. Gus (Hughes) did a fantastic job as did Jake (Potts). They executed pitches and got our team off the field and back in the dugout. We had some good at bats early on, especially to extend the lead. Our pitchers kept us right there giving us opportunities. I feel like we had some chances to extend the lead even more. We weren't great finishing the game offensively, but our pitchers were fantastic the first game. Those two guys were dominate."
Gus Hughes got the ball for the first leg of two games. His first batter he faced he struck out on a nasty curveball. That really set the tone for not only the rest of the game but for the rest of his outing. Hughes went 5.0 innings, allowing three hits, one run, and six strikeouts.
Jake Potts made his High Point debut as he came in as relief in the sixth inning and would end up closing out the game for HPU. Potts threw four innings, allowing two hits, no runs, and striking out five batters.
"He did what we have seen," Hammond said. "We know what he is capable of doing. He throws heavy bowling ball sinkers. He attacks the strikezone and gets a lot of ground balls. He pitched aggressive and with intent. When he has his slider and sinker going he is going to be really difficult. It was really good to see his debut under his belt and he will play a large role for us throughout the year."
The High Point offense today was key to the 6-1 win.
Off to a hot start in the first inning,
Adam Stuart would drive in the first run of the game off an infield hit that scored
Brett Ahalt, advancing
Cael Chatham to third.
The red-hot
Sam Schner would then drill a ball to center as he hustled out a triple, scoring Stuart and Chatham. Making it an early 3-0 lead for High Point.
Eric Grintz worked a walk as Schner would cross home plate on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the first.
UMass-Lowell's only run came in the third inning as Carlos Martinez drove in a run, off a double to left field.
High Point answered right away as
Charlie Klingler hit a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Stuart to tag from third to score the Panthers fifth run of the game.
Just an inning later, Stuart doubled to left center, scoring
Konni Durschlag to make it 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
Hughes and Potts held the lead for the Panthers as UMass-Lowell could not find their way around the bases.
High Point took game one, 6-1. Hughes earned his first win of the season.
Game 2:
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 9, UMass-Lowell 11
Records: High Point (1-2, 0-0), UMass-Lowell (2-1, 0-0)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "In the second game, it was the opposite from the first game. We did not execute and did not execute pitches. We had a lot of opportunities, and they got a lot of timely hits. They had seven two strike hits; seven of their ten hits were off two strikes. We could not put a guy away and they had eight two out RBI's. If you can't finish a batter or finish an inning, you aren't going to win games. I felt like our offense did a good job of fighting, battling, and giving us a shot. Down by four runs in the last inning and you bring the tying run to the plate. Again, far too many situations where we just could not finish a pitch, a batter, or an inning. Kudos to those guys, tip your hat and we just got to do better."
Howell Polk got the start on the mound for the second game in Saturday's doubleheader. He struggled a little bit as the RiverHawks attacked him early. A first inning home run by Martinez brought Lowell out to an early 2-0 lead.
High Point quickly answered as
Brayden Simpson got all of one and flew the ball 377 feet as he would get his first home run of the year. Chatham and Durschlag were both on base making it a 3-2 ballgame in the bottom of the first.
Lowell went back on top 6-3 as they hit two, two run home runs.
In the bottom of the fifth,
Brett Ahalt smacked one 397 feet to cut the lead to 6-4.
Braden Halladay came in to relieve Polk in the top of the sixth. Halladay threw for 0.2 innings struggling a bit as two runs crossed the plate.
Tyler Romanias got the ball to finish off the inning.
Down 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth, who else but Schner to blast his second home run of the season to cut into the lead.
Dawson Harman singled to put him on first base. Up to the plate was Grintz. He lasered one that just tucked itself over the left field corner wall to get his first home run in the Purple and White. The RiverHawks lead was down to one, 8-7.
Lowell pulled away again with another Martinez home run in the top of the seventh.
Christian Baker came in and struck out the side in the eighth inning for High Point.
In the top of the ninth, they would score two more off a single to right field, making it a 11-7 game.
The Panthers were not totally out of it yet. Up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth came Simpson. He doubles to right center, scoring Ahalt and advancing Chatham to third.
Stuart grounded to third knocking in Chatham to bring the score to 11-9.
HPU could not finish the job in the bottom of the ninth as they would lose game two of the doubleheader.
Up Next: High Point returns to Williard Stadium for the final game of the series on Sunday, Feb. 17. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
#GoHPU
