HPU Baseball Comes From Behind For A 10-9 Win Over Charleston Southern

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The High Point University baseball team scored two runs with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to come from behind and pick up a 10-9 win over Charleston Southern on Saturday afternoon in Charleston, S.C. The win completed a weekend sweep for the Panthers over CSU.

“I am extremely proud of this team,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “We have been through a tough stretch with eight games in seven days and they never stopped fighting. To get a sweep on the road really speaks to this team’s character. I think this can be a great launching pad for the rest of the season.”

Down 9-8 in the ninth, freshman Josh Greene hit a one-out single and advanced to second on a groundout to the pitcher. Junior Josh Spano was down to his last strike when he hit a bloop single to right, scoring Greene and tying the game at 9-9. Freshman Brenden Rivera then pinch-hit and hit a rocket to the wall in the right-center gap to score Spano, putting the Panthers in front, 10-9.

Senior John Maloney struck out Charleston Southern’s Alex Tomasovich with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the tying run on third to seal the win.

Maloney earned the win on the mound for High Point to improve to 2-2 on the season. The senior pitched 1-2/3 innings and allowed just one hit while striking out one.

Charleston Southern closer Austin Weekely took the loss after allowing the two ninth-inning runs, falling to 1-4 on the season. Weekley pitched two innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits while striking out one.

High Point improves to 18-13 overall and 7-5 in the Big South with its sweep of CSU, its first weekend sweep of the season. Charleston Southern drops to 16-19 overall and 2-10 in conference play.

High Point jumped on the board with two runs in the first inning on RBI hits by juniors Spencer Angelis and Spano. Angelis drove in the first run with a single to second that took a hard hop past the CSU fielder. Spano then followed with a stand-up double to right-center to double the HPU lead to 2-0.

Junior Dane McDermott added to the High Point lead in the second with a solo home run to put the Panthers ahead, 3-0. McDermott came up to bat with two outs and hit a 2-2 pitch down the right field line and over the fence for his first collegiate home run.

Charleston Southern scored one run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Nate Blanchard then scored seven runs in the fifth to take an 8-3 lead. Five different CSU batters picked up RBI hits in the inning including Nick Berry and Tomasovich who both drove in two runs.

HPU came right back in the next half inning with five runs of its own to tie the game at 8-8. Sophomore Dominic Fazio drove in the first run with a bases-loaded single, junior Tony Fortier-Bensen drove in two with an RBI single then McDermott drove in the final two runs with a double to left-center.

Charleston Southern took a late 9-8 lead with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Brian Welch hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Tomasovich, who led off the inning with a double, from third.

McDermott went 2-5 with three RBI and a run scored in the final game of the series. The HPU right fielder hit 8- with three RBI and five runs scored in the three-game series.

Freshman Josh Greene, Angelis, Spano and Fortier-Bensen all finished the game with two hits for the Panthers. Spano also had two RBI and two runs scored while Fortier-Bensen had two RBI and one run scored.

The ninth-inning comeback win was the first of the season for High Point which entered the weekend with a 0-12 record when trailing after eight innings.

High Point returns to action on Tuesday, April 8, when the team heads to Boone, N.C., to take on Appalachian State in midweek action. The game was meant to be the return leg of a home-and-home series between the two teams but the first game at Williard Stadium was rained out on March 25. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.