HPU Baseball Shuts Out Longwood in a 12-0 Win on Friday

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team rolled to a 12-0 win over Longwood in the first game a three-game weekend series on Friday night at Williard Stadium. Graduate student Adam Barry led High Point with four hits in the win.

“This was a great all-around game for us tonight,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “When Willie Medina gets on base at the top of the order good things happen. Devin Bujnovsky was driving guys in and Adam Barry is incredibly hot with the stick right now. On the mound, Newberry did what he has been doing and set the tone right from the start. We had great energy tonight and we need to carry that through the entire weekend.”

High Point scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 3-0 lead. Senior Willie Medina led off with an infield single and advanced to second on an error by the Lancer first baseman. Senior Devin Bujnovsky and sophomore Josh Spano followed with back-to-back singles to score Medina. After a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Spencer Angelis, senior Ryan Retz hit a groundball single through the drawn-in infield to plate both Bujnovsky and Spano.

The Panthers scored five times in the third inning, increasing their lead to 8-0. A single by Retz and a double by Barry gave HPU runners at second and third with one out. A chopper to second by sophomore Dane McDermott scored Retz and a single by senior Scott Glover brought Barry home. High Point then loaded the bases with two outs for Bujnovsky who hit a double to left to clear them.

High Point continued to put runs on the board, scoring one in the fourth and three more in the sixth. McDermott hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to score Retz, putting HPU up 9-0. In the sixth, Barry hit his second double of the game to drive in Retz and Angelis, who both reached after being hit by a pitch. A single by McDermott put runners on the corners for Glover who drove in Barry for the second time in the game with a single to left-center.

Barry finished 4-5 on the night with two RBI and two runs scored. Bujnovsky went 2-5 and led the team with three RBIs and Retz went 1-3 with two RBI and a team-high three runs scored. McDermott and Glover also finished with two RBI for the Panthers.

Senior Jacob Newberry started the game for High Point and pitched seven shutout innings to earn his second win of the season. Newberry gave up just three hits and two walks while striking out seven. He improved his ERA to a team-best 2.45 in 2013.

Senior Cody Ferguson and sophomore Joe Goodman combined to pitch the final two innings. Goodman struck out two Lancers in 1-1/3 innings of work including the final batter of the game.

Longwood starter Kyler Morgan took the loss and fell to 2-4 on the season. Morgan lasted just three innings and allowed eight runs on 11 hits while striking out just one.

The shutout by High Point is the Panthers’ second this season. HPU previously shutout Elon on Tuesday, March 26, on the way to picking up an 8-0 win over the Phoenix.

High Point and Longwood will return to Williard Stadium for the second game of their weekend series on Saturday, April 6, at 6 p.m. Redshirt-junior Sean Townsley will start on the mound for the Panthers as they look to clinch the series with a win.