HPU Baseball Falls to No. 1 North Carolina, 7-2

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team lost on the road at No. 1 North Carolina by a score of 7-2 on Wednesday night in Chapel Hill, N.C. Sophomore catcher Josh Spano went 2-3 in the game with an RBI.

“We didn’t play perfect baseball which we needed to do tonight to get a win here,” head coach Crag Cozart said. “There were a lot of positives to draw out of tonight. We were competitive at the plate and got better as the game went on. Also our bullpen was outstanding. We just have to keep building; our best games are still ahead of us. We are making the steps necessary to play championship caliber baseball.”

UNC scored in each of the first four innings of the game to take an early 7-0 lead. The Tar Heels scored once in the first, second and third innings before breaking the game open with four runs in the fourth. North Carolina third baseman Colin Moran had the big hit of the game with a two-run home run to right-center with two outs. All four runs scored by UNC in the fourth were unearned after an error by senior Ryan Retz while fielding a bunt.

High Point’s responded with its first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning off the bat of Spano. SophomoreDane McDermott led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a ground ball by senior Willie Medina and advanced the third on a wild pitch. A walk by senior Devin Bujnovsky put runners on the corners with two outs, bringing up Spano who hit a hard grounder between the UNC third baseman and shortstop to drive in McDermott.

The Panthers’ bullpen shut down North Carolina over the final four innings of the game, holding the Tar Heels scoreless. Sophomore Will Resnik, senior Kyle Wigmore, redshirt-junior Michael Heller and senior Adam Pratson combined to limit UNC to just one hit while striking out five.

The Panthers added a run in the top of the ninth inning with a single by sophomore Spencer Angelis to make the final score 7-2. Medina walked with two outs and was followed by Bujnovsky who singled through the right side. After a wild pitch allowed Medina to take third, Angelis hit an opposite field single past the diving UNC first baseman to score Medina for High Point’s second run of the game.

Bujnovsky went 1-3 on the day with two walks and Medina finished 1-4 with a walk and a run scored.

Retz got the start on the mound for HPU and picked up his first loss of the season. The right hander pitched four innings and allowed seven runs, three earned, on eight hits and two walks while striking out two.

Shane Taylor started for UNC and improved to 2-0 on the season after pitching 5-1/3 innings. Taylor allowed one run on five hits and two walks and struck out three.

High Point drops to 7-10 on the season with the loss to North Carolina. The Tar Heels remain unbeaten on the season, improving to 16-0.

The Panthers return home to Williard Stadium this weekend to play host to Central Connecticut State in a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 15. HPU will play at 4 p.m., on Friday, 2 p.m., on Saturday and 1 p.m., on Sunday.