HIGH POINT, N.C – Miggy Echazarreta hit a walk-off single as the High Point University baseball team defeated North Carolina A&T, 11-10, on Wednesday evening. With the victory, Head Coach
Joey Hammond earned his 100th career win.
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 11 , North Carolina A&T 10
Records: High Point (22-11, 7-2), North Carolina A&T (10-21, 4-3)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Not how you draw up a game, but you can never be upset with a win. Saw some fight with our guys, but I know we have that, so that's not something new. I didn't need to learn that about our club, but it's always good to see them do that. There are some obvious things we need to get better at to not put ourselves in those situations. Even on a day where two of our top hitters are not available, we can still find a way to push 11 runs across."
The Aggies plated an early run in the top of the first after a leadoff homer was hit to left field off HPU starter,
Cord Butler. As HPU took its first hacks, Echazarreta hit a leadoff ground rule double followed by
Jackson Melton ripping an RBI double to tie things up at one. After an Aggies error,
Jace Kohler hit High Point's third double of the inning to bring in two runs extending the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the first.
Both pitchers had short stints on the mound completing two innings which led to the heavy use of the bullpen.
Two hit-by-pitches in a row from Butler led to the bases loaded, followed by a single that drove in a run and a sac fly that tied things back up at three.
Jake McCarter hit a 384-ft home run on the first pitch he saw to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth. After
Justin Ruiz and Echazarreta reached base,
Jackson Melton hit a three-run home run extending the Panthers' lead.
The Aggies scored a run to cut the deficit to three in the top of the sixth, followed by another run scored in the seventh as the Aggies were down two runs with two at-bats left.
Howell Polk came in to relieve
Joey Tuttoilmondo in the seventh recording two strikeouts to get out of the inning.
The top of the eighth led to the Aggies taking the lead scoring three runs on three hits. Two errors by HPU gave A&T the advantage to pull ahead 8-7.
North Carolina A&T were pesky in their at-bats generating multiple base hits resulting in bases loaded in the top of the ninth. A wild pitch led to another run for the Aggies, followed by a single giving them a 10-7 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
Frank Kelly was walked to start the inning, as Kohler drilled a single to keep the line moving.
James Murphy was down to his last strike as he hit a three-run home run to tie things up in the bottom of the ninth. After
Jack Clark was walked and Ruiz got down a sacrifice bunt, Echazarreta hit an RBI single to complete the ninth inning rally for the win. This is the second consecutive walk-off win for HPU.
Up Next: High Point will travel to take on Longwood University for a three game series. A doubleheader on Saturday, April 12 will act as the series opener.
#GoHPU
