HIGH POINT, N.C – Jackson Melton smoked a walk-off home run as the High Point University baseball team defeated USC Upstate, 9-8, on Sunday afternoon.
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 9, USC Upstate 8
Records: High Point (21-11, 7-2), USC Upstate (16-16, 5-4)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Good to get a win, it's really big for us. We needed that. So proud of our guys for fighting. There was a lot of adversity all weekend long and you had to overcome a lot. I'm proud of us for fighting and staying in it. Can't say enough good things about
Dalton Olsovsky, he gave us a huge shot in the arm today. It's good to have him back out there and if he doesn't do what he does, I don't think we continue to grab that momentum and stack. Kudos to those guys, they played good all weekend long making it difficult for us the entire time. From
Brayden Simpson at the plate today, to
Jackson Melton coming through and getting a big hit when we needed it. A lot of positives to come out of here with a win. At the same time, we still have a lot of things that we've got to work on and clean up. I still think we've got the right personnel to do it."
Adam Grintz earned the win this afternoon improving his record to 4-0 after coming in relief and pithing 2.0 innings.
Dalton Olsovsky came up huge for HPU allowing them to go to work on offense and slowly catch the Spartans. Olsovsky threw 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters.
High Point jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning as
Landen Johnson and
Brayden Simpson both earned RBI. Upstate answered in the top of the second as they tied the game at two.
The Spartans jumped out front in the third inning on a bunt single to score the runner on third. HPU rallied back to tie it at three after
Miggy Echazarreta also placed a perfect SAC bunt to bring Simpson across the plate.
A two-run home run in the top of the fifth put USC up 6-3, before shutting down the HPU offense in the bottom half. Simpson continued his hot bat as he lifted a solo homer to left field to cut into the deficit.
A four run eighth inning gave High Point the 8-6 lead after Simpson started the scoring with an RBI single to left field.
Jace Kohler drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game at six, before Echazarreta and
Three Hillier drove in a pair of runners.
USC Upstate wasn't done yet as they rallied to tie the game at eight in the top of the ninth off three hits, before Melton sent the fans home happy with a walk-off blast. Melton hit his seventh long ball of the year to hand HPU the, 9-8, victory on Sunday afternoon.
Up Next: High Point will host North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, April 9 at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
