• High Point earned a 9-5 road win at North Carolina A&T on Tuesday night in Greensboro, N.C.
• Junior Hunter Lee hit two doubles and tied his career high with four RBI for the Panthers.
• High Point scored seven runs in the first three innings, including five in the third, to jump out to a 7-1 lead over the Aggies.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team went on the road to nearby Greensboro, N.C., and came away with a 9-5 win over North Carolina A&T on Tuesday night. Junior Hunter Lee matched his career high with four RBI in the win for HPU.
“This was a real solid win against a solid club in North Carolina A&T,” head coach Craig Cozart. “This is a tough place to come on the road and get a result. We played tremendous defense and Hunter Lee had a huge night at the plate. Joe Johnson came in and settled things down on the mound and both Austin Heinz and Jeremy Johnson got key outs late. I am very pleased with this result tonight.”
Freshman Joe Johnson earned the win for the Panthers on the mound, improving to 2-0 on the season. Johnson pitched 3-1/3 innings out of the pen and allowed three earned runs on seven hits while striking out two. Senior Jeremy Johnson got his first save of the season with 1-1/3 innings of scoreless work in which he allowed one hit and struck out one.
Josh Bottenfield took the loss for the Aggies, dropping to 3-4 for the season. The A&T starter allowed seven runs, five earned, on eight hits in three innings of work.
High Point moves back to .500 on the season with the win at 14-14 overall while North Carolina A&T drops to 14-13 for the season.
Lee put the Panthers in front with a two-run double in the second. High Point put the first two runners on as junior Carson Jackson singled and junior Blake Schunk reached on an error ahead of Lee.
After NC A&T got a run back in the bottom of the second, HPU came right back with five runs, all with two outs, in the next half inning to go ahead 7-1. Lee got the scoring started with an RBI single and was followed by RBI singles from junior Zak Gray and sophomores Conner Dunbar and JJ Woodard.
The Aggies scored one in the bottom of the third but High Point once again answered in the following half inning when senior Josh Greene was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, then scored on a throwing error.
North Carolina A&T scored twice in the fourth and again in the sixth to pull within three but could pull no closer as HPU held them off the board the rest of the way and the Panthers added an insurance run on an RBI double by Lee in the ninth to bring the final score to 9-5.
Lee finished the game 3-4 at the plate with two doubles, four RBI and a run scored. Redshirt-senior Tim Mansfield and Jackson both recorded multiple hits in the contest, finishing 2-5 on the night.
High Point returns to conference play this weekend with a three-game home series against Campbell starting on Friday, April 7. The series opener will be broadcast on ESPN3 with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
Wow.. Out hit by A&T in a Mid-Week game?
Triad Baseball what’s your point? HPU had 12 hits, which is impressive and last time I checked the game is decided on runs. With that being said A&T has always been able to hit, so your ignorant “outhit by A&T” comment doesn’t even make sense. I am a former A&T baseball player, so don’t think I am here just to defend HPU. Find something better to do than come on here and make negative comments about guys who put in a lot of hard work every day on and off the field.