ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team dropped game one against UNC Asheville on Friday night, 6-4.
Site: Greenwood Field
Score: High Point 4, Asheville 6
Records: High Point (14-16, 4-3), Asheville (12-16, 2-5)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Tough game for us tonight. We simply couldn't come up with the big pitch, hit, or defensive play from the start to the finish of the ballgame. Although we didn't deserve to win the game, we were still able to put ourselves in a handful of opportunities to find a way to win on a day where everything went the wrong way. I expect us to show up tomorrow expecting to win and play the fast paced, loose brand of baseball we have seen before."
Gus Hughes took the ball to start game one against the Bulldogs. Hughes was hit a bit tonight but finished with six innings pitched, allowing four runs, on seven hits, striking out six batters.
Adam Grintz and
Sean Duffy both came in out of the bullpen, each pitching one inning.
The Bulldogs climbed to an early lead as they brought two home in the first inning. One off an inside the park home run then a solo blast the very next batter.
High Point answered in the third inning as
Cael Chatham sent a fly ball to left field giving
Miggy Echazarreta enough room to tag and score from third.
HPU tied it up at two in the fourth after
Dawson Harman drove home
Brayden Simpson with a single to left field.
With two outs in the sixth inning, Asheville tallied two more runs off a pair of singles and an fielding error on
Frank Kelly. Asheville led 4-2 heading to the seventh.
Harman doubled in the top of the seventh to improve to 3-3 on the night at the plate.
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the seventh off three straight singles and a SAC fly to right field to take a 6-2 lead.
The Panthers rallied in the ninth as
Sam Schner pinch hit with two runners on as he lined one up the middle with two strikes clearing the bases.
Asheville stopped the Panthers offense to take game one on Friday night.
Up Next: High Point will take on the Bulldogs in game two of the series tomorrow at 2 p.m.
#GoHPU
