HPU Baseball Drops Series To Radford With 8-3 Loss

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team dropped its weekend series to Radford after falling to the Highlanders by a score of 8-3 on Sunday afternoon at Williard Stadium. Junior Brady Williamson went 4-4 in the loss for HPU.

“You have to give Radford all the credit in the world,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “They got bases-loaded hits against our two best bullpen arms. They out played us today and won the series. There are still a lot of games for us so we need to have a short memory and get ready to play Clemson on Wednsday.”

Freshman Andre Scrubb took the loss for the Panthers, dropping to 2-5 on the season. Scrubb gave up three runs on four hits and two walks over 3-1/3 innings while striking out one. The freshmen left the game with the score still 0-0 and the bases loaded in the fourth but saw all three runners on come around to score in the inning.

Tyler Swarmer pitched five innings to earn the win for Radford. Swarmer allowed on run on three hits and four walks to improve to 2-0 on the season.

High Point drops to 25-18 overall and 12-9 in the Big South with the loss to the Highlanders. Radford improves to 27-19 overall and moves into a tie with the Panthers with a 12-9 conference mark.

The Highlanders took a 4-0 lead in the fourth, scoring one run on a sacrifice fly by Blake Sipe and three more on a bases-loaded triple off the bat of Josh Gardiner.

High Point came back with a run in the bottom of the frame to make the score 4-1. Sophomore Dominic Fazio earned a two-out walk and came around to score on an RBI single by freshman Zach Vandergrift.

Radford extended its lead to 7-1 with three runs in the sixth inning. RU got a sacrifice fly from catcher Josh Reavis and a two-run double from Hunter Higgerson to take a six-run lead.

The Panthers got a run back in the eighth with a two-out single by Brandenburg to make the score 7-2. The senior hit a hard chopper through the left side to score Williamson from third.

After Radford scored on an RBI single by Sipe in the top of the ninth, HPU loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame and got an RBI single from Williamson which scored Angelis to pull High Point within five at 8-3. Redshirt-junior Blake Hutton followed Williamson and hit into a double play to end the threat in the ninth.

Williamson matched his HPU career high with four hits in the loss while also recording an RBI and a run scored. Vandergrift entered the game at 0-6 on the season but went 2-2 in the game with an RBI. Brandenburg also finished with multiple hits for the Panthers, going 2-4 with an RBI.

Gardiner continued his strong series for the Highlanders, going 2-5 with three RBI and a run scored while Zach Woolcock went 3-5 with a run scored.

High Point returns to action on Wednesday, May 7, when the team travels south to take on Clemson University. First pitch in the game is set for 6 p.m.