HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team stormed back to win on an extra inning walk-off wild pitch to beat Charleston Southern, 15-14, in the quarterfinals of the Big South Championship on Thursday afternoon.
Site: Truist Point
Score: High Point 15, Charleston Southern 14
Records: High Point (39-17), Charleston Southern (29-21)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "What can I say, it's an incredible baseball game. I'm not surprised with our guy's fight. We're never out of a game. It doesn't matter what it is. We talk about it, and we believe it. It wasn't panic in that dugout at any point, it was frustration because we kind of got in our own way there. Hats off to them, they're getting out to a big lead, but we just trust and believe in our guys. I can't say enough good things about
Dalton Hitt or
Adam Grintz getting those zeros at the end. It doesn't matter how good our offense is, we can't come back from that. Kudos to them and then just relentless at bats all the way one through nine which is what we've been doing all year. I'm not surprised, but in this moment to be able to do it in a game like this was fantastic. We're going to have to get after it again tomorrow and try to be as efficient as we can. We're going to have to have some guys step up, but it's good to continue to stay in the winner's bracket."
The Panthers were quick to add an early three runs during their first at-bats after the leadoff single from
Konni Durschlag got things moving.
Landen Johnson drove him in on a bloop single to left field to hand over the baton to
Jackson Melton. Melton played a crucial role by not only driving in a run, but he got into a rundown between first and second to allow the third run to score.
The Buccaneers rallied to score nine runs on nine hits in the fourth inning to jump in front of the Panthers 9-3. HPU answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the fourth as Durschlag roped one to the left field warning track to score
Three Hillier from first.
CSU had some movement in the top of the fifth scoring three runs on three hits before High Point went back-to-back in the bottom of the frame. Johnson and Simpson went yard to cut into the deficit. Simpson's 21st jack of the season made him the program's Division I leader in home runs.
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Two more runs crossed the plate for the Buccaneers in the top of the sixth on a two-run home run. HPU put up five runs in the bottom half of the inning after Durschlag tallied a SAC fly followed by another set of back-to-back homers from Johnson and Simpson.
High Point kept storming back as they tallied another run off an RBI double by Durschlag to make it a two run ball game in the seventh. The Panthers took a two-run deficit into the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded, Echazarreta drew an RBI walk, and Johnson sent a deep sacrifice fly to left field to score the game tying run. The Buccaneers stopped the bleeding to send the game to extra innings.
After
Adam Grintz shut the door in the top of the tenth, HPU worked the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom half. On a wild pitch, Melton came hustling down the line to score the winning run to hand HPU the 15-14 victory as they clawed back from an eight-run deficit.
Grintz was given the win to improve his record to 6-0 as HPU will now play in the Big South Semifinals.
Up Next: High Point will face No. 1 seed USC Upstate tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. for a chance to earn a trip to the title game.
#GoHPU
