HPU Baseball Drops 3-1 Decision To Radford

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team fell to Radford by a score of 3-1 on Saturday night at Williard Stadium to even the three-game weekend series at 1-1. Junior Spencer Angelis drove in the Panthers’ only run with a solo home run.

“This is baseball sometimes,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “Unfortunately the runs that they put on the board were courtesy of the freebie. We hit a lot of balls hard but right at people and that is the way the game goes sometimes. Now we need to clear this away, come back tomorrow and find a way to win this series.”

Senior Mike Krumm suffered the loss for High Point, dropping to 4-6 on the season. Krumm pitched 4-1/3 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits and six walks while striking out five.

Radford starter Michael Boyle pitched seven innings and allowed just one run to earn the win. Boyle allowed four hits and one walk while striking out two in his seven innings of work to improve to 4-3 on the season.

The loss by High Point snaps a five-game wins streak for the Panthers and drops them to 25-17 overall and 12-8 in the Big South. Radford improves to 26-19 overall and 11-9 in the Big South with the win.

The Highlanders took advantage of several HPU mistakes to build a 3-0 lead over the first five innings, scoring once in the third and twice in the fifth. RU scored the first run of the game when Chris Coia stole second and then came around on a two-base throwing error by Angelis on the pickoff. Two innings later, Radford loaded the bases and scored a run on a walk by HPU starter Mike Krumm to Patrick Marshall. Following a pitching change, Hunter Higgerson hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the third and final run.

Angelis got the Panthers on the board in the seventh inning with his second home run of the season. The first baseman got a hold of the first pitch he saw and delivered it just over the outstretched glove of the RU left fielder for the home run.

High Point and Radford will meet for the rubber game of the series on Sunday, May 4, at 1 p.m., in Williard Stadium. Freshman Andre Scrubb will start on the mound for HPU as the Panthers go for their fifth conference series win of the season.