HIGH POINT, N.C –
Jace Kohler's walk-off single lifted the High Point University baseball team to a 6-5 extra-inning victory over Presbyterian College in Friday night's series opener.
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 6, Presbyterian 5
Records: High Point (12-9, 2-2), Presbyterian (4-19, 2-2)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Really good win for us tonight. Friday night's aren't easy in any league and I'm proud of our fight to come away with a victory.
Wade Walton was fantastic all night long and gave us more than enough of a chance to win the game for him. Unfortunately, we had a difficult time cashing in for runs while he was in the game. We know that it's really difficult on offenses when the wind blows hard straight in at this park. Our at-bats were great most of the night but just couldn't get the big situational at-bat coupled with some strong defense by Presbyterian. To go 10 innings without a single strikeout is a credit to our offenses approach tonight and that was the difference in the game in the end."
Wade Walton got the start for High Point, tossing 7.2 innings while allowing just four hits, two runs, and striking out eight.
High Point broke through in the sixth inning when Jack Clark led off with a double, and Lane Allen followed with an RBI single through the right side to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Presbyterian answered with a run in the seventh to even the score, then added four more in the eighth to take control.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Panthers responded with four runs of their own to tie the game. Landen Johnson sparked the rally with a leadoff double, followed by a double from Seojun Oh to score Johnson. Jake McCarter then launched a two-run home run, and Frank Kelly capped the inning with a ground-rule double to even the score at five.
Neither team could push across the go-ahead run in regulation, sending the game into the 10th inning.
In extras, Tyler Shafer struck out the side to give High Point a chance to walk it off.
In the bottom half, Oh and McCarter opened the inning with back-to-back singles, setting the stage for Kohler, who delivered an opposite-field single to bring home pinch runner Marcus Martin for the game-winning run, securing a 6-5 victory for the Panthers.
Allen, Oh, and McCarter led the offense with two hits apiece, while McCarter drove in two runs on his sixth home run of the season. Clark extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Up Next: High Point will host Presbyterian College for game two on Saturday, March 21 at 4:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
