WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The High Point University baseball team scored twice in the ninth to tie the game against William & Mary but the Panthers dropped the contest by a score of 5-4 after allowing a two-out bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday afternoon in Williamsburg, Va.
“This was a hard-fought ballgame between two quality teams this afternoon,” head coach Craig Cozart
HPU got two runners on with one out in the top of the ninth with a double by sophomore Cody Manzella
A single and an intentional walk put two William & Mary runners on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Redshirt-junior Jaime Schultz
High Point falls to 14-13 with the loss which evens the weekend series at a game apiece. William & Mary improves to 19-9 on the season with the win.
Senior Willie Medina
William & Mary tied the game in the bottom of the first with an unearned run on an error by Medina but High Point came right back in the top of the second with another run to go ahead 2-1. Senior Ryan Retz
The Tribe scored twice in the bottom of the third inning to take its first lead of the series at 3-2. Michael Katz hit a one-out double to right to score the first run then came around to score on a double into the right-center gap by Charley Gould.
William & Mary added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning on an RBI double by William Shaw to straight-away center field. Katz walked and moved to second on a groundout before scoring with two outs on the Shaw double.
Barry and sophomore Josh Spano
Schultz took the loss for High Point out of the bullpen. Schultz pitched 4-1.3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out five. Redshirt-junior Sean Townsley
Farrell pitched his second-straight complete game to pick up the win for William & Mary. Farrell allowed a season high four runs, three earned, on 10 hits in his nine innings of work while striking out seven. The four runs and three earned runs allowed by Farrell were both season highs for the Tribe pitcher.
High Point and William & Mary will play the rubber game of their three-game weekend series on Sunday, March 31, at Plumeri Park. Senior Jared Avidon