HPU Baseball Panthers Fall to Camels, 5-2, on Soggy Sunday

• Sunday’s series finale featured two separate weather delays totaling 3:29, including a three-hour lightning delay in between the second and third innings.
• Senior Hunter Lee reached base three times to extend his on-base streak to 36 consecutive games
• The Panthers continue their eight-game road trip on Tuesday at Elon at 6 p.m.

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team weathered nearly three-and-a-half hours of weather delays before ultimately succumbing to Campbell, 5-2, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Jim Perry Stadium.

“Today was tremendously disappointing,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “The game wasn’t as close as the score indicates. We didn’t show up and I can’t understand it. We had a chance to do something special this weekend and we basically went through the motions today. I hope we can find some consistent hardness as we finish down the home stretch.”

The first weather delay came during a downpour in the bottom of the second inning with two runners on and two outs for Campbell (26-19, 17-4). After a 29-minute delay, the Camels got a bloop double to move ahead 1-0.

Four minutes after resuming, the game was placed in a lightning delay that lasted three hours between the second and third innings. When play resumed, neither team was able to muster much offense with the first 21 batters being retired until the home half of the sixth.

Campbell scratched across two unearned runs in the home half of the sixth to extend its lead. High Point (24-20, 13-8) had its best chance offensively in the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out after a bunt single and two walks. However, a foul out and a double play nixed the rally and kept HPU off the board.

The Camels plated two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to grow the advantage to 5-0, which proved to be critical insurance tallies. High Point scored twice in the ninth inning on an RBI groundout from redshirt-junior Daniel Millwee and a passed ball to cut the deficit to three, but would get no closer. For the second time in the series, HPU collected only two hits – singles from senior Hunter Lee and freshman Travis Holt.

Redshirt-junior Jonny Vizcaino started and pitched until the first rain delay for HPU, but was dealt the loss. Vizcaino (4-2) allowed a run on two hits in 1.2 innings. Redshirt-sophomore Harrison Smith pitched well, taking over after the second rain delay. Smith tossed four frames and allowed just one earned run on one hit with a strikeout.

HPU returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Elon at 6 p.m. The Panthers then continue their eight-game road trip with a three-game series at UNC Asheville next weekend.