BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The High Point University baseball team defeated Gardner-Webb University 10-3 in game one of the series on Friday night.
Site: John Henry Moss Field
Score: High Point 10, Gardner-Webb 3
Records: High Point (16-9, 5-2), Gardner-Webb (13-13, 3-4)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Really good win for us and proud of Wade [Walton] and Tyler [Shafer] tonight. I thought we played exceptional defense with the exception of one play but that kept them at bay all game. We had some great individual performances offensively as well with Seojun [Oh] and Justin [Ruiz] combining for 6 hits and reaching base 9 of 10 plate appearances. Really happy to see Landen [Johnson] with a double, homer and three two-out RBI on the day."
Landen Johnson got High Point started early, launching his sixth home run of the season to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Gardner-Webb answered in the bottom of the third, stringing together two hits to take a 2-1 advantage, though High Point starter,
Wade Walton limited the damage by stranding a runner on base.
High Point evened things up in the fifth when
Frank Kelly hustled home on a wild pitch, beating the throw to the plate. The Panthers then reclaimed the lead in the sixth as
Justin Ruiz drove an RBI single through the left side to make it 3-2.
The Panthers broke the game open in the seventh inning.
Seojun Oh delivered a bases-clearing, three-RBI double to left field, extending the lead to 6-2. Gardner-Webb responded with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning to cut the deficit to 6-3.
Johnson continued his strong night at the plate in the eighth, ripping a two-RBI double into the gap to push the lead to 8-3. High Point added two more runs in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk by Kelly and a sacrifice fly from
Willie Ponce, stretching the advantage to 10-3.
Tyler Shafer closed the door pitching the final 2.2 innings to secure the 10-3 victory in game one and earning his third save.
Walton earned the win, tossing 6.1 innings while allowing three runs on six hits and striking out four.
Up Next: High Point will be back for game two of the series tomorrow, March 28 for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.
#GoHPU
