HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team swept the doubleheader against the Wofford Terriers to earn win No. 30 on Sunday evening.
Game one
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 9, Wofford 3
Records: High Point (29-14), Wofford (25-19)
Game two
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 15, Wofford 6
Records: High Point (30-14), Wofford (25-20)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Good day at the park, doubleheaders are hard. I felt like we maintained energy and a lot of that is a product of our pitchers. It starts and ends with those guys, and they did a fantastic job to get through two games with five guys. Every one of them got extended and they did a fantastic job. They take the pressure off our offense to allow them to just do what they do. We were able to do it off a long list but especially the bottom of the lineup. Seven out of the nine hits in game one came from the bottom of the lineup. Four doubles and two home runs led to a lot of production. Same in the second game, a lot of production came from them but also
Brayden Simpson was fantastic as well. A lot of good things, it's important to get 30 wins. That's a good benchmark and we will enjoy it for about five minutes and then get ready for the week. With exams happening we can really start prioritizing our focus on finishing the stretch here. I'm excited about what that will look like."
Both HPU starter,
Dylan Story, and Wofford starter, Alec Bouchard were commanding the strike zone for the first two innings in game one of the doubleheader. The Terriers were able to score two runs in the top of the third to take an early lead after taking advantage on a fielding error and a few free bases.
The Panthers answered with a solo homer from
Frank Kelly to cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third. Story put up another zero in the top of the fourth as he stranded runners on, courtesy of a bases loaded inning ending double play.
HPU found its stride at the plate after putting up a four spot in the fourth inning.
Landen Johnson started it off with a game tying solo homer to right field, followed by a bases clearing two-run double by
Justin Ruiz. Kelly added an RBI double to his line to put a cap on the Panthers four run inning.
Wofford added a run in the top of the sixth on a solo homer of their own that found its way over the right field wall. HPU added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth after
Jace Kohler led off with a double, as Ruiz brought him home on a fielder's choice. The batting order flipped and
Konni Durschlag smacked a double down the third base line to score Ruiz to make it a 7-3 ball game.
Ruiz opened the HPU lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Panthers the 9-3 advantage.
Story earned his sixth win to improve his record to 6-2 after shoving six innings, allowing three runs, one of which was earned, four hits, and struck out six batters.
Howell Polk relieved Story and went the rest of the way for HPU as he finished with three scoreless innings. The Panthers took the series against the Terriers with the game two win, 9-3.
In game three, HPU took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Echazarreta went first to home on a
Brayden Simpson double that one hopped the left center wall. The Panthers extended their lead to three after Murphy smoked a line drive two-run homer over the left field wall.
Wofford answered in the top of the third with a four run, four hit inning to take a 4-3 lead. HPU tied it at four after Simpson hit another double that fell between the outfielders allowing Johnson to go first to home to score the tying run.
In the top of the fifth, the Terriers broke the tie, taking a 6-4 lead after scoring on a single with the bases loaded. The sixth run came home on an infield grounder to second base that brought home a runner on the out.
HPU wasted no time as they scored three in the fifth thanks to Simpson stealing third base drawing an errant throw to send him home.
Christian Smith then walked to allow
Jake McCarter to send a rocket over the left field fence to take the 7-6 lead into the sixth inning. McCarter's home run was the 100th home run hit by the Panthers this season.
HPU scored seven runs in the sixth inning all with two outs to blow open its lead over the Terriers. Simpson recorded his fourth hit of the afternoon for the first RBI of the inning. With the bases loaded, Hillier was walked to score a run and Murphy followed with a hit-by-pitch to keep the merry go round going. After Murphy scored on a wild pitch, Durschlag smoked a bases clearing double down the left field line to score the seventh runner of the inning. After six, HPU held a 14-6 advantage.
Dalton Olsovsky came in to close out the Terriers in the final three innings to hand HPU the series sweep over Wofford with the 15-6 victory on Sunday evening.
Up Next: High Point will play UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, April 30 at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
