• High Point defeated Radford, 7-2, to open its three-game series against the Highlanders.
• Redshirt-sophomore Zach Vandergrift delivered the decisive blow with a grand slam in the third inning.
• Redshirt-senior Scot Hoffman pitched eight innings and allowed just two earned runs to pick up his fifth win of the season.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team opened the weekend with a 7-2 win over Radford on Friday night at Williard Stadium. Redshirt-senior Scot Hoffman allowed just two runs in eight innings to pick up the win for the Panthers.
“This was a real good game tonight,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “I love the fact that we put up six runs in the third to put ourselves in a great situation. We played errorless baseball and Scot Hoffman was in control of the situation on the mound. It was great seeing Zach Vandergrift come out and hit a grand slam. It is a credit to that guy and was the big blow that put us in control of the game.”
Hoffman allowed just two earned runs on six hits and a walk while striking out eight and improved to 5-3 on the season. In his last two starts, the right-hander has pitched 16-1/3 innings and allowed four earned runs while striking out 17. He is 4-1 in Big South games with a 2.20 ERA.
Zach Ridgely got the start for the Highlanders and dropped to 3-5 on the season after allowing seven runs, six earned on six hits and two walks in three innings.
The win snaps a four-game losing streak for High Point and improves the team’s record to 27-17 overall and 10-6 in the Big South. Radford drops to 14-31 overall and 6-10 in the Big South with the loss.
The Panthers got on the board in the second inning when senior Dominic Fazio led off with a double and came home on an RBI single by sophomore Hunter Lee to put HPU in front, 1-0.
High Point blew open the game in the following inning, scoring six times to go up 7-0. The Panthers loaded the bases on an error and back-to-back singles by junior Chris Clare and senior Dominic Fazio. Carson Jackson was then hit by a pitch and Lee drew a walk to score the first two runs of the frame for HPU. With two runs in and the bases still loaded, redshirt-sophomore Zach Vandergrift stepped to the plate and cleared them with a grand slam, the first home run of his HPU career, to put High Point up by seven.
Radford scored a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Luke Wise and another in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Danny Hrbek, but could do little else on the night against Hoffman.
Lee finished 2-3 in the win for HPU with two RBI, a run scored and a walk. Fazio also had multiple hits for the Panthers, going 2-4 at the plate and scoring twice.
High Point and Radford continue their three-game series on Saturday, May 7, at 5 p.m., in Williard Stadium. The Panthers will try and clinch their fourth Big South series of the season with a win over the Highlanders.