HIGH POINT, N.C – The High Point University baseball team dropped game one 6-5 to Longwood University on Friday night.
Site: Williard Stadium
Score: High Point 5, Longwood 6
Records: High Point (29-16, 11-5), Longwood (27-19, 9-7)
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "Tough game to lose tonight. Tip of the hat to Longwood - they were simply a tad bit better than us in every phase tonight. Runs are hard to come by on Friday nights in college baseball and especially with how the elements made the park play. In games like that - you can't allow free bases and jump start teams, and we did that far too often tonight. And on the flip side- we had a couple opportunities to control our at bats and earn some free bases but just couldn't stay disciplined enough to stack them after the 1st inning. We have a big opportunity ahead of us tomorrow to get back in the series"
High Point quickly took an early 2-0 lead in its first at-bats of the night.
Willie Ponce scored the first run on a Longwood wild pitch, before
Landen Johnson sent a sacrifice fly to center field to allow
Frank Kelly to tag and score.
Wade Walton held the Lancers scoreless for five innings before
Jack Carey came in relief in the top of the sixth inning.
The Lancers broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs to take a 3-2 lead. In the top of the eighth, Longwood added three more runs to extend the lead to 6-2 after a three-run home run to right field.
The Panthers battled back within one in the bottom of the eighth, as
Jake McCarter went deep to right field for a three-run homer - his 13th of the season - to pull HPU within 6-5 after eight innings.
Longwood shut HPU down in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 6-5 game one victory on Friday night.
Up Next: High Point and Longwood will be back for game two of the series tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
