HPU Baseball: Pitching Duel Ends In 2-0 Panther Loss

HIGH POINT, N.C. – An impressive performance from the pitching staff would not be enough to earn High Point University baseball a win this Saturday, as the visiting Panthers fell to James Madison by a final of 2-0, in game one of their series with the Dukes.

“I think, across the board, on the mound we executed our game plan very well,” said Head Coach Craig Cozart. “[Andrew] Gottfried gave us a really good start and the bullpen was outstanding. Only one guy reached base once we got into the bullpen, so I was proud of the way that they threw the baseball.”

Senior Andrew Gottfried showed off one of his best starts of the year against the hosting Dukes, keeping the JMU offense to six hits over his 5.1 innings of work, without surrendering a single walk. Giving up a single in the first, Gottfried retired the following nine batters in order before giving up his second knock of the day. The right-hander sprayed three James Madison hits over the opening five innings before giving up his lone two runs of the afternoon in the sixth.

“[Gottfried] worked hard during the middle of the week, made some adjustments and got some good results today,” said Cozart. “You figure if a guy gets you into the sixth inning giving up two runs you’d have a chance to win the game, but we’re not in that position right now.”

The Panther bullpen was equally up to task, keeping the hosting Dukes scoreless through the final 2.2 of the contest. Sophomore Jacob Winger gave up a single hit over his two frames of work, while striking out two of the seven batters that he faced. Cooper Jeffers and KJ Wells each retired a single batter to finish off the afternoon, as the HPU pitching staff collected a total of seven Ks and zero walks.

Freshman Trent Harris and sophomore Travis Holt each finished 1-for-3 in the box, with the latter extending his hitting streak to three straight games. Harris’ knock moves his OBP to a team-best .429, as the first-year Panther is 3-for-6 (.500) since February 26th.

>> Winger’s day was his fourth shutout appearance of 2019, as the righty’s 1.17 ERA sits third for the Panthers
>> Wells has made back-to-back shutout trips to the hill, holding Elon scoreless in his inning of work this past Tuesday
>> The High Point pitching staff has given up a total of just 30 walks over the course of the year, holding a BB/9 of 2.78 and a K/BB average of 3.00

COMING UP NEXT
The Panthers prepare for their third doubleheader of the year this Sunday, finishing off their series against the Dukes with a pair of back-to-back contests, starting at noon.