Daczkowski Ks nine in HPU baseball’s 7-0 win over UNC Asheville

• High Point clinched the weekend series with a 7-0 win over UNC Asheville on Friday.
• Freshman Drew Daczkowski pitched 6-2/3 scoreless innings with a career-high nine strikeouts.
• Junior Blake Schunk went 3-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Freshman right-hander Drew Daczkowski set a new career-high in strikeouts as the High Point University baseball team clinched its weekend series against UNC Asheville with a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night at Williard Stadium.

“I am really pleased with the way the team performed to get this win tonight,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “We have gotten two quality starts this weekend and had zeroes in all the right places tonight. Drew Daczkowski grew up tonight and got us deep into the ballgame. Those three runs in the third allowed him to settle in and then the Austen Zente home run gave us the insurance runs we needed. We are in position to sweep so we need to grow up as a team and figure out a way to take care of game three.”

Daczkowski threw 6-2/3 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high nine to improve to 3-3 on the season. The right-hander allowed just two hits and five walks on the night. The nine strikeouts by Daczkowski are a season high for an HPU starting pitcher this season.

Greg Gasparro took the loss for Asheville, dropping to 2-3 for the season. The freshman left-hander allowed five earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out three in 3-2/3 innings.

The win clinches High Point’s third-straight conference series as the Purple & White improve to 19-15 overall and 7-7 in the Big South. UNC Asheville drops to 13-21 overall and 4-7 in conference play.

The Panthers pushed three runs across in the third to get on the board and take a 3-0 lead. HPU loaded the bases on a single by junior Spencer Brown and walks from sophomore Conner Dunbar and redshirt-senior Tim Mansfield. The first run scored on a wild pitch then junior Blake Schunk delivered a two-run single.

In the following inning, HPU got two runs on junior Austen Zente’s team-best eighth home run of the season to push its lead to 5-0. Zente drilled a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left to score junior Jordan Sergent, who reached with a double in front of the HPU outfielder.

High Point tacked on another run in the fifth on an RBI single by junior Hunter Lee, driving in Schunk who reached with his 11th double of the season. The Panthers scored again in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Brown to extend the lead to 7-0.

Schunk finished the game 3-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored while Lee went 2-3 with a walk and an RBI.

High Point will try and complete its first weekend sweep of the season when the Panthers and Bulldogs meet in the third and final game of the series on Saturday, April 15, in Williard Stadium. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.