• High Point earned a 9-7 win over Marist to claim the weekend series, two games to one.
• Sophomore Carson Jackson was one of six players with multiple hits in the contest, finishing 2-4 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored.
• Freshman Andrew Gottfried earned his first HPU win after pitching five innings in relief.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team came from behind for a 9-7 win over Marist on Sunday at Williard Stadium, claiming the weekend series over the Red Foxes. Sophomore Carson Jackson had a home run, two RBI and three runs scored for the Panthers in the win.
“First I have to give a lot of credit to Marist, they played hard and our guys had to dig down and really figure out a way to win this series,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “I am very proud of our effort in getting the win today. Nick Capra came up huge with a bases-loaded situation and Carson Jackson was outstanding offensively. Andrew Gottfried also came in and really calmed things down on the mound to earn his first win.”
Freshman Andrew Gottfried got his first collegiate win for HPU after coming out of the pen and throwing five innings of relief in which he allowed just one unearned run on three hits and a walk with one strikeout. Redshirt-senior Joe Goodman struggled in his second start, allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits and two walks in 3-2/3 innings of work.
Michael Hunter fell to 0-1 on the season after taking the loss for Marist. He pitched one inning of relief and allowed two earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out one. Kevin Stewart started and pitched 4-1/3 innings, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
High Point moves back to .500 on the season at 3-3 with the win. Marist drops to 2-4 in 2016 after losing the last two games of the weekend.
The Red Foxes got the first run of the game for the first time in the weekend, scoring a run in the first on an RBI single by Zachary Racusin two batters into the contest.
High Point came back to take a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly by junior Josh Greene and an RBI double by Dominic Fazio in the third, but the Red Foxes answered right back with a five-run fourth to go ahead 6-2. Rascusin and Matt Pagano each had RBI in the inning, as did Joey Aiola who hit bases-clearing triple with the bases loaded.
The Panthers began clawing back in the fourth with an RBI single by freshman JJ Woodard then tied the game in the fifth when junior Nick Capra hit a bases-clearing triple of his own to knot the score at 6-6.
One inning later, High Point took the lead for good with two runs to go ahead, 8-6. Jackson drove in Greene with an RBI double then scored himself one pitch into the next at bat when he stole third and took home on a throwing error by the Marist catcher.
After Marist pulled within one in the seventh with an RBI single by Greg Kocinski, Jackson added an insurance run in the eighth with his first home run of the season. The sophomore turned on an inside pitch and hit a high shot over the wall in right for High Point’s first home run of 2016.
Jackson finished 2-4 at the plate with two RBI, three runs, a walk and a stolen base. He was one of six HPU batters to record multiple hits in the game. Sophomore Hunter Lee went 3-4 with a walk, making him 6-9 with six walks out of the leadoff position in the series. Sophomore Austen Zente also finished with three hits, going 3-5 with a run scored in the contest.
High Point continues its current 14-game home stand with a midweek series against Wright State. The Panthers and Raiders will play two games beginning on Tuesday, March 1. Wright State won 43 games last season and is the defending Horizon League Champion. The Raiders are one of four teams that HPU will face this season that made the 2015 NCAA Baseball Championship. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 4 p.m.