CHARLESTON, S.C. – The High Point University baseball team dropped game three to Charleston Southern University 4-3 on Sunday afternoon.
Site: CSU Ballpark
Score: High Point 3, Charleston Southern 4
Records: High Point (26-13, 11-4), Charleston Southern (22-16, 7-8)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Really disappointed to have missed an opportunity to sweep a series on the road. We just didn't play well enough to win and credit CSU for making the key plays that made the difference. Baserunning mistakes really hurt us and seemingly every single play/call/situation was stacked against us today. Even still, we are talented enough to overcome all of that and look forward to the next chance to prove that."
The Panthers got on the board in the second inning, scoring two runs on RBI singles from
Caleb Hammond and
Justin Ruiz to take a 2-0 lead.
CSU tied the game at two in the fourth inning on a two-run home run.
After a few scoreless frames thanks to stellar pitching from
Aidan Paul, who was eventually relieved by
Noah Zimmerman, the Bucs were held off the board through the middle innings. HPU regained the lead in the top of the seventh on a perfectly executed safety squeeze by Ruiz, scoring
Jake McCarter to make it 3-2.
The Buccaneers tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single, then took the lead in the eighth on a sacrifice fly out to right field.
High Point had two runners on in the top of the ninth but was unable to bring the tying run across, as CSU secured the 4-3 game three victory.
Up Next: High Point will play top-ranked University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, April 21 at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
