HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team dropped the third and final game of its weekend series against Central Connecticut State by a score of 7-1 on Sunday afternoon at Williard Stadium. High Point claimed the series with wins in the first two games of the weekend.
“As good as the first two games of the weekend were this one was equally bad,” head coach Crag Cozart said. “When you can’t make routine plays or execute in team offensive situations then you get the result we got today. We need to decide what kind of baseball team we are going to be, a really good college baseball team or an inconsistent average team. With the leadership we have I expect us to respond in a good way.”
The Panthers had five errors in the game which resulted in four unearned runs for the Blue Devils.
Two High Point errors led to two unearned CCSU runs in the third inning and an early 2-0 deficit. The Blue Devils’ Dylan Delacruz reached on a fielding error by freshman Sly Edwards and after a fly out, JP Sportman hit a ground ball to second that was misplayed by junior Kyle Brandenburg. Central Connecticut cashed in on the errors with an RBI double by Tyler McIntyre.
The Blue Devils added three runs in the fourth inning, scoring the first two on a single by Nick Palimisano and a sacrifice fly by Sportman. With two outs, McIntyre hit a single to right field and Palimisano attempted to score from first. The throw beat the CCSU base runner, but was mishandled by sophomore Spencer Angelis allowing the run to score.
McIntyre picked up an RBI in the top of the seventh with a solo home run to center field and another on an error by senior Sean Wilson in the ninth to put Central Connecticut ahead, 7-0. McIntyre finished the game hitting 4-5 at the plate with five RBI.
Senior Ryan Retz scored the only HPU run of the game in the ninth inning, scoring on a groundout by senior Devin Bujnovsky. Retz hit a one-out double to left-center and advanced to third on a single by sophomore Cody Manzella before scoring on the Bujnovsky groundball. Retz was one of two Panthers with multiple hits in the game, going 2-3 with the one run scored.
Senior Jared Avidon got the start for High Point and pitched 3-2/3 innings. The right hander took the loss after allowing five runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks. Redshirt-junior Jaime Schultz pitched well out of the bullpen, going 4-1/3 innings and allowing just one earned run while striking out six.
Jack Greenhouse went the distance with a complete game to pick up the win for CCSU. Greenhouse allowed just one earned run on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. The lefthander induced 19 groundball outs from the Panthers.
High Point falls to 9-11 on the season with the loss. Central Connecticut State improves to 5-6.
The Panthers hit the road once again this week for a midweek showdown with East Carolina on Wednesday, March 20, at 6 p.m. High Point and ECU split their two meetings last season with each team winning at home.