• Senior Hunter Lee extended his career-long hitting streak to 19 games with a two-hit performance and also drove in his team-best 23rd run..
• Redshirt-junior Daniel Millwee collected two hits as well while driving in his 21st run of the year.
• HPU has won all three Big South series this year and returns to action on Tuesday against Elon at 6 p.m.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team dropped the final game of its weekend series with Winthrop, 11-2, on Saturday afternoon at Williard Stadium. The Panthers still claimed the series two games to one and have won all three Big South series this year.
“We played beautiful baseball the first two games, and today it was terrible,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “This game doesn’t change at all. When we walk people and when we make errors, its very difficult for us to win ball games. But if we play clean defense and throw the ball across the plate, we usually look pretty good.”
High Point (14-13, 6-3) grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double from senior Hunter Lee that extended his hitting streak to a career-long 19 games. Lee would single in the third inning and score on an RBI single from redshirt-junior Daniel Millwee to account for the only Panther runs of the game.
Lee and Millwee each collected multi-hit games, combining to go 4-for-8 with a run scored and two RBI. High Point’s two runs were its lowest since March 4 against William and Mary. The Panthers had scored at least four runs in 11 straight and 14 of the last 15 games prior to Saturday.
After being held to one run in the first two games of the series, Winthrop (13-16, 7-2) broke out offensively to claim the finale. The Eagles tied the game at one with a two-out RBI single in the second inning and moved ahead for good with three runs in the third to make it 4-1.
Winthrop broke the game open with six runs in the top of the fourth inning, aided by a pair of High Point errors. Mitch Spires proved the big blow in the frame with a three-run homer that put WU up 8-2. The second error of the inning allowed two unearned runs to score and upped the lead to 10-2. A two-out RBI double in the top of the seventh accounted for the final margin.
Redshirt-junior Jonny Vizcaino was dealt the defeat in his first start of the season for HPU. Vizcaino (4-1) was knocked out after 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks. Winthrop’s Riley Arnone (2-1) went seven strong, yielding two runs on eight hits to earn the win.
Sophomores Grey Lyttle and Garrett Letchworth and redshirt-sophomore Harrison Smith combined to hold Winthrop to one earned run on four hits in the final 5.2 innings.
High Point is back in action on Tuesday when they host Elon at 6 p.m. The Panthers will then head to Charleston Southern for a three-game series beginning next Friday.