HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team smashed seven home runs in route to the, 16-5, victory over Gardner-Webb on Friday night.
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 16, Gardner-Webb 5
Records: High Point (34-15, 15-4), Gardner-Webb (16-32, 5-14)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "I'm proud of our guys, they came out and performed. I thought
Wade Walton was exceptional, even if his line doesn't necessarily reflect it because of the three runs late in the eighth. I thought he was dominant throughout the game and did exactly what we hope and expect from him. It bought some time for us, for the offense to get it going a bit. I felt like we were a little immature with our bats early on. We kind of over swung and I know the wind was going out, but we haven't done this all year and I thought we had a stretch of some immature at-bats. I challenged our guys and to their credit, as they have done all year long, they responded. We got back into the things that we value the most, and coincidentally when that happens, results end up being pretty good. We got to continue to stay focused on the process to make those become a reality. I think seven home runs obviously speaks for itself, but there's a way that those come to be. You can't really force that action. I'm so proud of how we responded. We got a quick turnaround and got senior day tomorrow, which is a great opportunity to recognize those guys. And then come out here and try to put together another quality game and get another win."
Wade Walton earned his eighth win of the season to improve his record to 8-3 after shoving 7.1 innings tonight as he struck out nine batters.
Konni Durschlag hit his fourth leadoff home run to give HPU the early lead in the bottom of the first.
The Runnin' Bulldogs finally had an answer in the top of the fourth after being shut down for three frames as they tallied two runs on two hits to take the lead. HPU responded right away as
James Murphy and
Frank Kelly went back-to-back with two long home runs to regain the 4-2 lead.
The home runs kept coming as HPU went back-to-back-to-back in the bottom of the fifth to take a 8-2 lead over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Landen Johnson started with an opposite field blast, followed by a 474-foot rocket by
Brayden Simpson.
Jackson Melton added to the fun with a blast of his own to make it three in a row for the Panthers.
Three Hillier drove in the eighth run on a hard-hit grounder to first base as
Christian Smith crossed the plate with ease.
High Point added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a wild pitch that scored Durschlag, followed by a Smith RBI single through the right side. For the fourth straight frame, HPU put up a crooked number after
Miggy Echazarreta drew a bases loaded walk, and Johnson smashed his second homer of the night for a grand slam to spread the lead wide open. Kelly capped the six-run inning after he drew a bases loaded walk to score the 16th runner.
Gardner-Webb rallied to score three runs in the top of the eighth off a shot to straight away center for a three-run home run.
Landon Castor relieved Walton and was able to shut down the Runnin' Bulldogs offense to earn the game one, 16-5, victory on Friday night.
Up Next: High Point will welcome back Gardner-Webb for game two of the series on senior day. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
