• High Point picked up an 11-2 win at UNC Asheville on Saturday to clinch the first Big South series of 2016.
• Junior Andre Scrubb struck out a career-high 11 in 6-2/3 innings to earn his fourth win of the season.
• Seven players had RBI, including sophomore Spencer Brown who went 2-4 with two doubles and three RBI.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team clinched its first Big South series of the season with an 11-2 win at UNC Asheville on Saturday afternoon. Seven different HPU hitters recorded an RBI in the win for the Panthers.
“It’s always good to win the first conference series of the season,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “It started on the mound once again. Andre Scrubb had a tremendous outing that put us in position to win. When you put up an eight spot in an inning that’s going to win you a lot of games. It was good to see Josh Greene get rolling and we got great production out of our nine hole again with Spencer Brown coming through for a big bases-loaded double. Hopefully the guys come out ready to win another tomorrow.”
Junior Andre Scrubb set a new career high with 11 strikeouts in 6-2/3 innings and improved to 4-1 on the mound this season. The right-hander gave up just two earned runs on two hits and three walks.
Jordan Carr fell to 1-3 for Asheville after allowing seven runs, six earned, in five innings of work. He gave up eight hits and a walk and struck out two.
The Panthers improve to 14-5 overall and 2-0 in the Big South with the win while UNC Asheville drops to 4-14 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The series win is HPU’s sixth-straight this season.
High Point got on the board with a run in the third when junior Chris Clare hit a two-out triple and junior Josh Greene followed with an RBI single to bring him home.
The Panthers broke the game open with an eight-run sixth to go up 9-0. Clare reached on an error to lead off then HPU got four-straight singles from Greene, senior Dominic Fazio and sophomores Carson Jackson and Austen Zente. Fazio and Jackson each picked up RBI with their singles and Zente’s bunt single loaded the bases.
A bases-loaded walk by freshman Nick Blomgren brought home the second run of the inning and forced a pitching change by the Bulldogs as Tyler Hughes came into the game. Hughes walked Mansfield to force in a run then sophomore Spencer Brown delivered the big hit of the inning with a bases-clearing double to drive in three. Clare drove in the final run of the frame in his second at bat of the inning with a sacrifice fly to score Brown.
After UNC Asheville got on the board with two runs in the seventh on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Carmine Pagano, the Panthers got the two runs right back in the next half inning as Brown doubled and scored on an error by the Asheville shortstop and Greene drove in sophomore Hunter Lee with a sacrifice fly.
Brown finished 2-4 with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored while Greene went 3-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Fazio went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Zente registered two hits and a run scored.
High Point will go for its second-straight weekend sweep when the team takes on UNC Asheville in the third and final game of the series on Sunday, March 20. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.