HPU Baseball Drops Series Finale to William & Mary, 9-5

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The High Point University baseball team dropped the final game of its three-game series at William & Mary on Sunday afternoon by a score of 9-5 in Williamsburg, Va. Sophomore Mike Miedzianowski had three hits on the day for HPU.

“All you had to do today was look at the difference on the mound,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “Inghram was really good for them and we were unable to do anything against him in the first five innings. We had the worst day on the mound in probably three weeks. It all starts with pitching and defense and we didn’t get the job done on the mound. There is still a lot of season to go and we have a big week ahead of us with conference play starting again.”

The Tribe took a 5-0 lead over the course of the first four innings, scoring once in the second, twice in the third and twice in the fourth. Ryan Hissey got William & Mary on the board with a sacrifice fly in the second and Michael Katz hit a two-run double to left in the third. Both Jonathan Sarty and Ryan Brown picked up RBI singles in the fourth.

High Point scored twice in the top of the sixth to cut into the William & Mary lead, making the score 5-2. Sophomore Spencer Angelis drew a walk and freshman Dominic Fazio hit a single, giving the Panthers two on with two outs. After a balk advanced the runners, Miedzianowski laced a triple into the left-center gap to clear the bases.

After William & Mary scored a run on an RBI single by Ryan Lindemuth in the bottom of the sixth, HPU came right back with a run in the top of the seventh to pull back within three at 6-3. Medina hit a single and moved to third when a pickoff attempt got by the Tribe first baseman and rolled into foul territory. Medina then scored on a groundout to second by sophomore Josh Spano.

William & Mary scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to increase its lead to 9-3. The Panthers then scored two in the top of the ninth on graduate student Adam Barry‘s first home run of the season. Miedzianowski singled to lead off the inning and was followed by Barry who hammered a pitch well over the right field wall for a two-run shot.

Miedzianowski finished 3-4 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored for the Panthers on Sunday. Fazio went 1-3 with a run scored and Barry finished 1-2 with two RBI and a run scored.

Senior Jared Avidon took the loss for High Point after surrendering four runs in just three innings of work. Avidon gave up three hits and three walks while striking out two.

Jason Inghram pitched six innings to earn the win for the Tribe. The left hander allowed two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out eight.

High Point drops back to .500 with the loss, falling to 14-14 on the season. William & Mary improve to 20-9 with the win.

The Panthers will return to action On Tuesday, April 2, when they head to nearby Elon, N.C., to take on Elon University. HPU picked up an 8-0 win over the Phoenix at home earlier in the season and is looking to clinch a season sweep of its inter-triad rival. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.