• High Point earned its second weekend sweep of the season with a 6-4 win at UNC Asheville on Sunday.
• Senior Tyler Britton allowed one run in five innings of relief to earn his fourth win of the season.
• The Panthers’ 15-5 record is their best through 20 games in the Div. I era (2000-present).
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team finished its weekend sweep of UNC Asheville with a 6-4 win over the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon in Asheville, N.C.
“We weren’t real sharp today in most parts of the game but when you are on the road you just have to find ways to win,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “We were fortunate enough to get things going in the middle innings and Tyler Britton put it away in the end. Anytime you sweep you have to be happy with that and we are.”
Senior Tyler Britton improved to 4-0 on the season after throwing five innings in relief for HPU. Britton gave up a run on four hits and a walk and struck out seven. Freshman Andrew Gottfried got the start and pitched four innings, giving up three runs on three hits and walk while striking out five.
Justin Woods took the loss for UNC Asheville and fell to 0-1 on the season. Woods pitched 2-2/3 out of the pen and allowed two earned runs on three hits and two walks.
The Panthers improve to 15-5 overall and 3-0 in the Big South with the win. The 15-5 record is High Point’s best mark through 20 games in the Div. I era (2000-present). Asheville drops to 4-15 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
High Point took the first lead of the game with two runs in the fourth to go ahead, 2-0. Senior Tim Mansfield hit an RBI single to drive in sophomore Carson Jackson and junior Drew Fopeano drove in the second run of the inning with an RBI single to score sophomore Austen Zente.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the fourth to tie the game then twice in the fifth to jump ahead of HPU, 4-2. The Panthers responded in the next half inning, pushing across two runs in the sixth to knot the game at 4-4. Sophomore Hunter Lee hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and junior Chris Clare followed with an RBI single to tie the game.
High Point went back ahead with a sacrifice fly by Zente in the seventh and added an insurance run in the ninth when junior Josh Greene singled and scored on a triple by Jackson into the right-center gap to make the score 6-4.
Jackson finished 3-5 at the plate with a triple, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Lee went 2-4 with an RBI and Zente finished 1-3 with an RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases, his 12th and 13th of the season.
High Point concludes its current five-game road swing on Tuesday, March 22, when the Panthers travel to take on inter-Triad rival Elon. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.