HIGH POINT, N.C. — On a windy and sunny Saturday afternoon, the High Point University baseball team smashed six home runs and battled to a 21-9 victory over Stonehill College to secure the series win. It was the Panthers' third 20-run victory this season and third series win.
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 21, Stonehill 9
Records: High Point (11-4), Stonehill (0-9)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Long day at the park. You know, we knew it was going to be a chance to be a pretty offensive day with the way the wind's blowing, and it is warming up a bit plus the wind going out. I'm proud of our guys for taking advantage of that. We had some big hits in some big situations. I felt like
Dylan Story did a good job, giving us five innings there. They put up some crooked numbers in the middle innings and forced us to continue to finish and we were able to do it. I thought
Brayden Simpson was fantastic. He had a couple homers; four hits and it was really good to see him going.
Jackson Melton has been
Jackson Melton all year, so a lot of really good things across the board. We scored 21 runs in a game so it's hard to nitpick on anything offensively. It's good to win a series, but you know, the only things that is important is tomorrow. Championship teams find ways to sweep series' and so we must come ready to go tomorrow and start all over fresh for a new day to finish off this weekend."
The Panthers got things rolling quickly, knocking across six hits for an eight-run second inning.
A
James Murphy hit-by-pitch scored the game's first run, and then
Caleb Hammond cleared the bases with his first-career grand slam.
Brayden Simpson and
Three Hillier, who both singled, along with
Jackson Melton (walk), all scored to take a quick 5-0 lead.
Landen Johnson doubled into center field to plate
Jack Clark, who hit a bunt single, followed by a Simpson two-run blast as the lineup turned back around for the eight-run inning.
Jackson Melton tacked on a no-doubter in third to extend the lead to 9-0.
Dylan Story (W, 2-1) was solid through five innings as he only allowed one earned run while striking out three. Stonehill erased the goose egg in the fourth inning when a fielding error in left field cleared the bases.
The Panthers responded with two more in the bottom half as Johnson and Simpson knocked out back-to-back home runs. Simpson, who recorded his 100th career hit, led the team with four hits and four RBI.
Mac Kimel and
Bryan Garrett allowed two and three runs, respectively, in relief to allow Stonehill to cut into the deficit.
Brent Herrmann pitched a scoreless 2.1 innings to get HPU to the finish line.
High Point scored four more runs in the sixth inning, which was sparked by a balk, throwing error, sacrifice fly and a single. The Panthers weren't finished yet, plating six more runs in the eighth inning.
Jace Kohler came off the bench and connected on a two-run RBI while
Jake McCarter smashed a pinch-hit, two-run home run. Matthew Martinez scored a run after getting hit by a pitch as he relieved Hillier behind the plate, while
Christian Smith hit a sac fly after subbing in for Hammond in left field.
Up Next: The Panthers go for the series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.
#GoHPU
