CHARLESTON, S.C. - The High Point University baseball team won its 11th straight game with a 14-0, seven inning mercy rule victory over College of Charleston to clinch the series against the Cougars. The Panthers' win streak is the second longest in the nation.
Site: CofC Baseball Stadium
Score: High Point 14, Charleston 0
Records: High Point (21-9), Charleston (11-19)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Ty [Brachbill] continued the trend with dominant pitching performances and much like Wade [Walton] yesterday - I thought Ty had his best fastball of the season today. When he has command and the fastball he had today - he's gonna be really difficult to handle with the rest of his arsenal. Really proud of the offensive adjustments made today up and down the order tonight. And we had a lot of big hits and were a suffocating team on the bases and in the box."
Two first-inning RBI singles from
Lane Allen and
Seojun Oh gave the Panthers their first two runs of the night.
With two runners on in the top of the second,
Jack Clark poked an RBI double down the right field line to score
Frank Kelly, before
Landen Johnson drove in
Willie Ponce on a sacrifice groundout. With Clark on third, he came home on a called balk by the Cougars' pitcher.
Making his return to the lineup,
Christian Smith blasted a two-run home run to right-center field to extend the lead to 7-0 in the top of the third. HPU added to its lead in the fourth with back-to-back two-out RBI singles from
Jake McCarter and
Jace Kohler to go ahead 10-0.
With no outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning,
Frank Kelly drew a walk to bring home the Panthers' 11th run of the night.
Willie Ponce followed with an RBI groundout, before
Jack Clark recorded his second triple of the night to drive in another run.
Landen Johnson then capped the inning with a ground-rule double, scoring Clark with ease. HPU led the Cougars 14-0 after the top half of the seventh.
The Cougars failed to score in the bottom of the seventh, resulting in a series win and a seven inning 14-0 victory for High Point.
Everyone in the Panthers' lineup got on base in the seven-inning game. Clark, Allen, and McCarter each tallied three hits and two RBIs, while Smith, in his first game back, added two RBIs on his home run.
Ty Brachbill threw a complete game shutout over seven innings, allowing just three hits while striking out seven to improve to 6-1 on the season.
High Point has shutout its opponent for the third straight game, marking the first time that has happened in program history since 1982.
Up Next: High Point is back for game three of the series tomorrow, April 4 at 1:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
