HPU baseball drops doubleheader night cap to Flames, 11-10

• High Point fell to Liberty by a score of 11-10 in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader at Williard Stadium.
• The Panthers tied the game with five runs in the seventh but a Liberty run in the following inning gave the Flames the win.
• Sophomore Hunter Lee finished 1-2 with three walks, three RBI, three runs scored and his second home run of the day.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team dropped the nightcap of its doubleheader against Liberty by a score of 11-10 on Thursday night at Williard Stadium. The Panthers could not overcome a season-high six errors, which led to four unearned runs for the Flames.

“I thought we competed hard but we couldn’t overcome all the walks, errors and wild pitches,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “We continually put them in good offensive situations and that is ultimately what did us in. I have no problem with our effort but I do have a problem with the quality of our play. We got to clear our minds now and come out tomorrow to win the series.”

Sophomore Bailey McKee took the loss for the Panthers after giving up two unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning on a hit and a walk. He drops to 0-1 on the season with the loss.

Cody Gamble earned the win for the Flames and improved to 1-1. Gamble allowed one earned run on a hit and a walk in two-thirds of an inning. Jordan Scott pitched the final two innings for LU and allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out three to pick up the save.

High Point drops to 31-21 overall and 14-9 in the Big South with the loss. The win moves Liberty back to .500 at 27-27 overall and 11-12 in conference play.

The Flames’ D.J. Artis put Liberty in front early with a leadoff home run in the first. The LU left fielder hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right to put Liberty up 1-0.

High Point went ahead in the second by way of the long ball when redshirt-sophomore Zach Vandergrift hit a three-run shot, giving HPU a 3-1 lead. Senior Dominic Fazio and Jackson both walked ahead of Vandergrift and scored on his second home run of the season.

Liberty tied the game at 3-3 with two runs in the fourth thanks to a bases-loaded RBI single from Eric Grabowski and a sacrifice fly by Artis. The Flames then took advantage of several HPU miscues in the sixth to score three runs and take a 6-3 lead. Grabowski hit his second RBI single of the game and LU scored two runs on miscues by the Panthers.

Lee pulled High Point back within one at 6-5 with a two run home run, his second of the day and his fourth of the season. Fazio drew his second walk of the night and stood at first when Lee hit a shot over the wall in right.

The Flames came right back in the next half inning with four runs in the seventh to go up 10-5. Taormina drove in the first run with an RBI single then Grabowski notched his third and fourth RBI with his third RBI single of the night. The fourth run scored on an error by Lee, the Panthers’ fifth of the night.

High Point answered Liberty’s four-run seventh with a five-run seventh of its own to tie the game at 10-10. The Panthers loaded the bases then got walks by Fazio and Lee to score the first two runs before Jackson cleared the bases with a game-tying double into the gap in right-center.

Liberty scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning when Andrew Yacyk led off the frame with a walk and came around to score on a ground ball to second by Andrew Kowalo.

Lee finished 1-2 with a home run, three walks, three RBI and three runs scored for High Point while Vandergrift ended the day 2-5 at the plate with a home run, three RBI and a run scored. Zente and freshman Conner Dunbar both recorded multiple hits at the top of the HPU lineup with Zente going 2-5 with a run scored and Dunbar going 2-4 with a walk and a run scored.

High Point and Liberty wrap up their three-game series with the rubber game on Friday, May 20, at 12 p.m. The Panthers need a win and a Winthrop win over Gardner-Webb to secure the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big South Tournament.