HPU Baseball Rolls In 16-3 Win Over North Carolina Central

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back against North Carolina Central, finishing with a 16-3 win over the Eagles on Tuesday night at Williard Stadium. Senior Kyle Brandenburg went 3-3 at the plate with two triples and three RBI.

“This is the type of midweek game that you really like to see,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “We were solid in all aspects and got a lot of contributions off the bench. Peter Ripke was very solid once again on the mound. It was great to see the offense clicking the way it was today and hopefully we can carry that momentum into tomorrow.”

Freshman Peter Ripke earned the win for High Point in his second collegiate start. Ripke pitched seven innings and allowed three runs, one earned, on seven hits while striking out three. Junior Jordan Skavinsky and freshman Sean Barry made their HPU debuts in the eighth and ninth innings, recording the final six outs of the game for the Panthers.

Andrew Wilson was tagged with the loss for North Carolina Central. Wilson pitched just three innings and surrendered eight runs, three earned, on nine hits.

The Panthers improve to 4-4 with the win. HPU bounced back since its season-opening sweep at the hands of Mercer, going 4-1 in its five-game home stand. NC Central drops to 1-5-1 with the loss.

High Point jumped on the Eagles early thanks in part to several NCCU errors. Sophomore Tim Mansfield scored the first run of the game for HPU on a dropped sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Spencer Angelis. After a dropped ball on an attempted sacrifice bunt by sophomore Dominic Fazio loaded the bases, HPU scored two runs when junior Tony Fortier-Bensen singled and junior Cody Manzella was hit by a pitch.

Junior Dane McDermott had the big hit of the frame with a bases-clearing triple to the right field corner. The HPU rightfielder then scored the final run of the inning one batter later when Brandenburg connected for an RBI single.

After NC Central got on the board in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly by Carlos Ortiz, High Point answered right back with a sacrifice fly by Mansfield in the bottom of the inning. Brandenburg led off the inning with a triple to the wall in left-center then scored on the sacrifice.

Brandenburg scored his second run of the game two innings later in the fifth when he came home on the second dropped fly ball of the game off the bat of Angelis.

NC Central scored two unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning but HPU once again responded in kind with two runs in the bottom of the same inning. After Fortier-Bensen singled and McDermott reached on a fielder’s choice, Brandenburg hit his second triple of the day, this time to right field, to score both base runners, putting HPU ahead 11-3.

High Point would add a run in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk by freshman Josh Greene and four runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Blake Hutton and a three-run triple by Greene to pick up the 16-3 win.

The 16 runs scored by High Point mark a season high for the Panthers and are the most they have scored since scoring 19 against LIU-Brooklyn on Feb. 24, 2013.

Brandenburg reached base in all five of his at bats with two triples, a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Greene finished with a team-high four RBI while McDermott had three RBI and two runs scored.

Eleven different HPU players recorded a hit in the game, including Spano and Fortier-Bensen who each joined Brandenburg as the only Panthers with multiple hits in the win.

Tyson Simpson went 2-3 with an RBI for the Eagles and Ortiz finished 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

High Point returns to the road on Wednesday, Feb. 26, when the team heads up the road to take on inter-Triad rival UNC Greensboro. Freshman Alex Gross will make his first start of the season against the Spartans. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

One thought on “HPU Baseball Rolls In 16-3 Win Over North Carolina Central

  1. Brandenburg had 2 triples….1 batting right side of plate and other from left side.
    Why is this kid batting in number 8 spot instead of 1 or 2?

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