High Point Story Follows Elon Post:
ELON, N.C. – The Elon University baseball team hit a season-high four home runs, including a pair by Tyler McVicar, but the High Point Panthers rallied from a five-run deficit with a big seventh inning and then held on to down the Phoenix 17-16 on Tuesday night at Williard Stadium.
McVicar drove in a career-high seven runs with a 4-for-6 day at the plate. Along with his two homers, he also singled twice. Danny Lynch was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and Austin Leeney drove in three and scored twice during a 2-for-4 performance for the Phoenix (15-22).
High Point (24-13) got a 4-for-6, two-run, three-RBI game from Josh Greene.
Dimitri Lettas (1-1) took the loss after he surrendered three runs on a hit and two walks in one-third of an inning.
The win went to Peter Ripke (2-0) earned the win after he allowed a run on two hits in an inning of work.
How It Happened: Elon led 11-6 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning when the Panthers erupted for 10 runs on six hits. Josh Greene led off the inning with a solo homer before the next three hitters walked to load the bases. After an out was recorded at home on a fielder’s choice, a wild pitch allowed a second run to cross the plate. A bases-loaded pinch-hit single drove home a pair to cut Elon’s lead to 11-10. A passed ball then tied the game before a sacrifice fly put the Panthers in front. Another wild pitch made it a 13-11 contest. Four consecutive hits scored the final three runs of the inning as High Point took a 16-11 lead.
The Panthers tacked on one in the last of the eighth before the Phoenix attempted to rally in the ninth. Lynch led things off with a double before a walk and hit batter loaded the bases. With one out, Leeney lined a single to left to score one. A two-out double off the bat of Nick Zammarelli drew Elon within three at 17-14. McVicar followed with a two-RBI single to trim it to a one-run contest before a pop out ended the game.
The Phoenix erased an early 2-0 deficit when McVicar belted his first home run of the game to left-center to tie it up in the third. Elon would take advantage of a two-error play to start the fourth inning to grab a 6-2 lead. With one out, Will Nance doubled home a run. A two-out single from Leeney drove home Nance before Ryne Ogren hit his second homer of the year.
High Point would tie it the last of the fourth before the maroon and gold went back in front with four in the sixth on a solo shot from Liam O’Regan and a three-run blast from McVicar. Elon added one in the seventh on a Leeney sacrifice fly to take the 11-6 lead.
Notes: Elon reached double digits in runs scored for the first time since a 13-7 win over William & Mary on March 19… McVicar recorded the second two-homer game of his career… O’Regan tied the program’s NCAA Division I freshman record with his seventh home run of the year… Zammarelli eclipsed the 100-RBI mark for his career with his two in the ninth inning.
On Deck: Elon will head home to take on the UNCG Spartans at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20.
• High Point won a wild affair against Elon, 17-16, on Tuesday night at Williard Stadium.
• The Panthers scored 10 times in the seventh to take the lead then held on for the one-run win.
• Junior Josh Greene went 4-6 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored for HPU.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team used a 10-run seventh inning to come from behind then held on for a 17-16 win over Elon on Tuesday night at Williard Stadium. The win gave HPU its first season sweep of the Phoenix since 2007.
“Considering everything that this team has gone through, this is one of my favorite games that I can remember,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “This game had everything in it. I am proud of the way our guys responded time after time. Chris Clare and Josh Greene were monsters and Conner Dunbar came off the bench and got a huge base hit to spring things for us. I am glad that we were able to find a way to sweep the season series against a team like Elon.”
High Point trailed by five, 11-6, at the seventh-inning stretch before taking the lead with a 10-run seventh, the most runs scored by the Panthers in an inning this season. Junior Josh Greene hit his third home run of the season over the short porch in right-center to start the inning before HPU loaded the bases on three-straight walks. A wild pitch scored sophomore Austen Zente then freshman Conner Dunbar pinch hit and delivered a two-run single to pull the Panthers within one.
A passed ball allowed junior Drew Fopeano to score the tying run then junior Chris Clare hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Dunbar as the go-ahead run. Sophomore Hunter Lee scored on a wild pitch before back-to-back RBI doubles by senior Dominic Fazio and sophomore Carson Jackson and an RBI single by senior Tim Mansfield drove in the final three runs in the inning. All told, High Point sent 14 people to the plate in the seventh, turning an 11-6 deficit into a 16-11 lead.
The Panthers added an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI single by Greene that proved very valuable as Elon scored five times in the ninth to close to within one at 17-16. Austin Leeney hit an RBI single to drive in the first run while both Nick Zammarelli and Tyler McVicar had two RBI before senior Tyler Britton got a pop-up with the tying run on first to end the contest.
Peter Ripke earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the season after allowing one run on two hits in his one inning of work. HPU starter Cooper Jeffers pitched four innings and allowed six runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks while striking out three.
Dimitri Lettas was one of four pitchers used by the Phoenix in the seventh and he took the loss, falling to 1-1 for the year. Lettas allowed three earned runs on one hit and two walks in one-third of an inning. Joe McGillicuddy, twin brother of former HPU pitcher John McGillicuddy, got the start and allowed two runs on three hits and four walks in three innings of work.
Greene finished 4-6 with a double and a home run for the Panthers. He drove in three runs and scored twice in the win. The top six in the HPU lineup combined to go 11-26 with 11 RBI and 13 runs scored. Lee finished 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, Clare went 1-4 with a career-high four RBI and two runs scored and Jackson finished 2-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
The 17 runs scored by High Point are a season high and the most scored in a game by HPU since scoring 17 against Presbyterian College last season.
The win gives High Point a season sweep of Elon for the first time under head coach Craig Cozart. The Panthers improve to 24-13 overall while Elon drops to 15-22.
High Point scored a run in each of the first two innings to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Greene picked up an RBI double to drive in Clare for the first run and Zente doubled the HPU lead in the following inning, picking up an RBI on a fielder’s choice as Mansfield beat the throw at home.
Elon scored twice in the third on a two-run home run by McVicar and four times in the fourth on an RBI double by Will Nance, an RBI single by Leeney and a two-run home run by Ryne Ogren to jump ahead, 6-2.
The Panthers answered right back with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 6-6. Lee hit an RBI single and was followed by Clare who hit a three-run home run, his second of the season.
The Phoenix retook the lead on a solo home run by Liam O’Regan in the fifth, then scored three times in the sixth on McVicar’s second home run of the day and once in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Leeney to open an 11-6 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
High Point returns to action on Wednesday, April 20, when the team hosts East Carolina in the second of two midweek contests. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.