Michael Fields hits the UNCG baseball field in their season opening weekend with High Point

(Courtesy of Michael Fields, 103.1 UNCG radio and GreensboroSports.com collegiate writer/correspondant)

If you have been around campus lately, you can tell that it is starting to warm up a little bit. This means that it is time for baseball again. The UNCG baseball team started their season last week. They had a stretch of games against cross-town rival High Point University. One thing is sure for the Spartans. They wanted to start out the season hot and try to pick up three gigantic wins against the Panthers.
The first game was played at Willard Stadium on the campus of High Point University. The game was dead even for two innings. UNCG got their offense rolling in the third inning when they scored six runs. The Spartans added to the lead by tacking on two more runs in the fourth inning to make it 8-0. High Point responded in the bottom of the inning by getting their first two runs of the game. High Point tried to dig into the lead one more time in the bottom of the sixth. The Panthers scored one more run in the inning, but it simply just wasn’t enough. UNCG had one last run in the eighth inning. This would be the final score of the game in favor of UNCG 9-3. Michael Goss and Ryne Sigmon were the leaders at the plate for the Spartans by having three hits a piece. Sigmon, Jake Kusz, and Ben Spitznagel each had two RBIs for UNCG as well.
The second game was played at UNCG Baseball Stadium. This was the home opener for the UNCG baseball team against High Point. It looked like the Spartans were ready to play in front of their home crowd. The offense came out swinging early. UNCG put up three runs the first time at bat. High Point tried to respond to the early deficit by adding one run in the third inning. The Spartans did not let the momentum swing in the Panthers’ way at all though. They responded in the bottom of the inning by adding three more runs to make it 6-1. UNCG continued to tally the runs offensively. They scored two runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings before High Point could even respond again. High Point added two more runs by the end of the game. UNCG added one more run to make the final score 13-5 in favor of UNCG. There were stars for the Spartans offensively and defensively at home. Bryce Hensley threw an absolute gem for UNCG. He picked up with the win while pitching six innings and had five strikeouts with one earned run. Michael Goss absolutely shined at the plate. He had his second multi-hit game in his Spartan career with a game-high five RBIs. He had three hits with two of them being a double and homerun. Tripp Shelton and Andrew Moritz also had three hits while L.J. Kalawaia and Ben Spitznagel had two hits each. Collin Woody and Dillon Stewart joined the home run gang. They each had a homer to go along with Michael Goss’.
UNCG would try to go for the third win against High Point on Sunday at Willard Stadium again. The Spartans took an early lead of 1-0. High Point answered by scoring six runs in an inning to take a decisive lead. UNCG got a run back to make it 6-2. The Panthers scored nine runs before UNCG could finally manage three runs towards the end of the game. Unfortunately, the Spartans could not get their impressive winning streak to stay alive. High Point avoided the sweep by beating UNCG 15-5. Dillon Stewart had an outstanding day at the plate despite the loss. He went 3-4 with a home run, double, RBI, and three runs scored. UNCG would finish the stretch with High Point with a 2-1 record on the year.
UNCG has a three game homestand this weekend against Binghamton. The games will be at the UNCG Baseball Stadium on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.