N.C. A&T over HPU last night in High Point

Junior Brian Jones (West Palm Beach, Fla./Summit Christian) pitched five innings, allowing just one run on five hits, and left the game with the lead but North Carolina A&T put up eight runs in the eighth inning to take a 13-8 win over the High Point University baseball team.

“We are just trying to find new ways to lose games,” said HPU assistant coach Bryan Peters. “We had a defensive collapse and our hitters didn’t do enough to win the game. They threw average arms that frustrated our lineup for no reason. Our offense and defense didn’t help the pitchers and A&T stole seven bases. It is all losing baseball.”

Junior Mike Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) was tagged with the loss, giving up five runs in an inning of work but only two of the runs were earned. Of the 10 runs North Carolina A&T plated in the final two innings only four were earned.

Jones pitched four scoreless innings in his first start since April 3 at Liberty where he didn’t make it out of the first inning. In the fifth inning he gave up one run on a double and back-to-back singles but got himself out of the inning with a stellar defensive play. Nick Rogers(Northwest Guilford HS) hit a bouncer back to Jones who stopped the ball with his foot, picked it up and got the out of first base.

Jones had a 5-1 lead when he left the game after five innings. Max Fulginiti (Matthews, N.C./Charlotte Christian) singled and scored in the second inning on a groundout by Murray White IV (High Point, N.C./Ledford). The Panthers added another run in the third on a solo home run by Nate Roberts (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond Burton), his 14th of the season. Roberts home run went off the batters eye in center field and is his third home run in the last four games.