HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team swept Winthrop University after defeating the Eagles 11-3 on Sunday afternoon.
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 11, Winthrop 3
Records: High Point (34-17, 15-6), Winthrop (30-21, 13-7)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "We stacked another complete win again, so I'm proud of our guys. That was a strong weekend all the way through. We pitched well and made pitches when we needed them and kept them at bay. This gives us a lot of separation which is what we've talked about. But we're in postseason mode right now and we got to keep winning games, that is what is most important. I thought offensively, it was as complete of a performance we've had all year. One strikeout, I don't care who you are and what level you're at, that is really impressive. We impacted the ball and drove the baseball with big two-out rbi. Seojun [Oh] did was he has been doing all year, Landen [Johnson] got big hits, and Caleb [Hammond] had a great weekend putting balls in play. Really proud of him for stepping in and taking advantage of an opportunity. We got to keep rolling and head up to Asheville playing our best baseball at this time of the year."
Back-to-back doubles got the Panthers on the board first in the bottom of the first inning.
Frank Kelly ripped one into the gap, followed by
Seojun Oh lining one down the right field line to score Kelly easily.
Jake McCarter continued to stay hot at the plate, driving in two runs on a single to center field to make it a 3-0 game.
Winthrop tied things at three in the top of the fourth on two hits, before
Caleb Hammond hit his first home run of the season to give the lead right back to HPU with a solo shot.
The lead extended in the fifth inning when Oh ripped his 16th home run of the season, and Hammond tallied another RBI with a single to left field that scored McCarter as HPU led 6-3.
With the bases loaded in the sixth inning,
Landen Johnson drove home two runners with a single to center field, followed by Oh scoring on a passed ball by the Eagles' catcher. High Point extended the lead to 10-3 - scoring its fourth run of the inning - on Hammond's sacrifice fly to left field that scored Johnson from third.
Lane Allen drove home Oh on an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give HPU an 11-3 lead after seven innings of play.
High Point went on to hold Winthrop to just three runs on four hits as
Jack Carey earned his third win of the season with 2.2 innings of work, holding the Eagles to just one hit while striking out one batter.
Up Next: High Point will travel to UNC Asheville for the last regular season series starting on Thursday, May 14 at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
