CLINTON, S.C. – The High Point University baseball team swept its doubleheader, and the series against Presbyterian on Sunday afternoon.
Site: Elton Pollack Field
Score: High Point 8, Presbyterian 5
Records: High Point (32-14, 13-4), Presbyterian (17-26, 9-11)
Site: Elton Pollock Field
Score: High Point 15, Presbyterian 5
Records: High Point (33-14, 14-4), Presbyterian (17-27, 9-12)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "So proud of our guys today. Doubleheaders are long days and tough to sweep and we did a lot of great things that led to completing the sweep. In game one,
Dylan Story got us into the sixth and
Howell Polk was incredible to put up zeros the rest of the way. I thought our offense did a great job of building traffic/innings but couldn't quite capitalize like we have become accustomed to. In game two, our offense responded with a barrage of hard hit balls and runs in the first two innings and Monty was fantastic on the mound."
Christian Smith drove in the first run of the afternoon as he drilled a single into left field scoring
Brayden Simpson who stood on third.
Three Hillier followed with a walk to load the bases, before
James Murphy blasted a grand slam to quickly take a 5-0 lead in the second inning. After a pitching change,
Konni Durschlag stood on third as
Landen Johnson flew one to left field to allow Durschlag to tag and score the sixth run of the inning.
HPU took a 7-0 lead after
Miggy Echazarreta drew a bases loaded walk in the top of the third. The Blue Hose added two runs in the bottom of the third frame on a two out, two-run double to cut into their deficit.
Presbyterian worked to score two more runs off HPU starter,
Dylan Story as they drove in a pair of runners on a single to the outfield. HPU had the bases loaded in the top of the fifth as Johnson hit into an RBI ground out to put the Panthers back up four, 8-4.
A sacrifice fly to center field scored the fifth run for the Blue Hose as Durschlag made the diving catch on a shallow fly ball in the fifth.
Howell Polk relieved Story with two outs in the sixth inning as he managed to get out of the inning untouched. Polk went on to earn the three inning save – his third of the season - after he finished the game for HPU, only surrendering one hit and striking out five batters. Story earned the win as he improved his record to 7-2 as High Point won game two, 8-5, as it clinched the series against the Blue Hose.
The Panthers struck first scoring seven runs in the opening frame in game two of the doubleheader. The merry-go-round started with two RBI singles by Johnson and Smith, followed by two back-to-back bases loaded walks and a bases clearing double by
Frank Kelly.
Six more runs crossed the plate in the second inning for the Purple and White. Johnson started it off with his 11th home run of the season, followed by three doubles by
Brayden Simpson,
Three Hillier, and
Jake McCarter. Murphy and Durschlag both recorded singles resulting in runs to cap the six run, second inning for HPU.
Murphy and Johnson both recorded two more hits in the fourth inning resulting in two runs to add to the 15-run total for the Panthers.
With the help of some free bases, the Blue Hose worked four runs across the plate in the bottom of the fifth to score their first runs of the ball game.
After
Dalton Olsovsky didn't have his best day on the bump,
Bryan Garrett and
Landon Castor combined to put down the Blue Hose. Presbyterian managed to work one more run in the bottom of the seventh before falling to HPU to the mercy rule, 15-5 to earn the Panthers the series sweep.
Adrian Montenegro picked up his third win to improve his record to 3-0.
Up Next: High Point will head to UNC Charlotte for a mid-week matchup on Tuesday, May 6 at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
