ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team scored three times in the top of the ninth to pick up an 8-5 win over UNC Asheville in the first game of a three-game series on Saturday afternoon in Asheville, N.C. Sophomore Josh Spano
“We had a hard time getting going today but we put up some big numbers at the end of the game and that will typically win you ballgames,” head coach Craig Cozart
With the scored tied 5-5 heading into the ninth, HPU put its first two base runners on with a walk by sophomore Dane McDermott
Asheville managed to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth but sophomore Joe Goodman
Junior John Maloney
Billy Creighton took the loss for the Bulldogs after giving up three runs on four hits and a walk in 1-2/3 innings of work.
The win by High Point was its first when trailing after six innings this season. The Panthers improve to 20-20 overall and 7-6 in the Big South. UNC Asheville drops to 13-27 overall and 2-11 in the conference with the loss.
Asheville jumped out to a 2-0 lead after six innings thanks to an RBI single by Phillip Treadway in the second and an RBI single by Creighton in the sixth.
High Point battled back to tie the game in the top of the seventh, scoring two run on an RBI double by redshirt-senior Sean Wilson
The Bulldogs came right back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs to go back ahead, 4-2. Eli Miller led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to right field and Ian Graham hit a two-out RBI single to put Asheville up by two runs.
HPU took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the eighth inning with three runs to jump ahead by a score of 5-4. The Panthers loaded the bases with one out after back-to-back singles by Spano and Angelis and a walk to Retz. After Spano was called out at home on a fielder’s choice, sophomore Cody Manzella
Asheville tied the game once again in the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run by Treadway, knotting the game up at 5-5.
Manzella finished the game 3-3 at the plate with two RBI. Angelis also finished with three hits, going 3-5 with a run scored. Spano finished 2-4 with two RBI and Medina went 2-5 on the day with a run scored.
High Point and UNC Asheville will meet once again on Sunday, April 21, at 1 p.m., in the second game of its three-game series. The Panthers will try and clinch their second-straight Big South series with a win over Asheville.