Elon Baseball Falls to High Point by 5-3 Score

(HPU Story follows at end)

ELON, N.C. – The High Point Panthers were able to push across single runs in five innings and hold off the Elon University baseball team in a 5-3 game at Latham Park on Tuesday night. With the loss, Elon splits the season series with High Point.

Box Score | Play-by-Play

Kyle Jackson drove in all three Elon (16-17) runs.

The Panthers (17-15) saw Conner Dunbar go 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI to pace their offense.

Elon’s Robbie Welhaf (2-4) took the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in 4.2 innings of relief work. He struck out five hitters.

The win went to Rion Murrah (2-0) who threw 2.1 scoreless innings out of the HPU pen. Cooper Jeffers threw the final 3.2 innings to pick up his first save of the year.

How It Happened: High Point was the first to get on the board, plating a run in the second on Dunbar’s sacrifice bunt with runners on second and third.

Elon answered in the last of the third, loading the bases with two walks and a fielder’s choice before Jackson doubled to right-center that gave the Phoenix a 3-1 lead.

The Panthers cut the deficit to a run as Joe Johnson’s sacrifice fly scored Blake Schunk in the top of the fourth. High Point then evened it up in the fifth as Austen Zente scored on a ground out.

With runners on first and second after a single and Elon error, Dunbar lined a single to right that scored one and put the Panthers back in front, 4-3, and left runners on the corners.

Notes: Ogren has now reached base safely in 21 consecutive games, while Jackson’s streak reached 18 games… Jackson’s double was the 100th hit of his Elon career… High Point had its leadoff man reach in eight out of nine innings…

On Deck: Elon will be right back at Latham Park tomorrow night as the Phoenix hosts the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 6 p.m.


HPU baseball goes on the road for a 5-3 win at Elon

• High Point earned a 5-3 road win at Elon on Tuesday.
• The Panthers limited Elon to just four hits in the contest.
• Five different HPU hitters recorded multiple hits including sophomore Conner Dunbar who finished 2-3 with two RBI.

ELON, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team picked up a 5-3 road win at Elon on Tuesday night in Elon, N.C. Three Panther pitchers combined to hold Elon to just four hits in the game.

“This was a very solid midweek road win against a good baseball club in Elon,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “We were able to stack a lot of hits together and spread our scoring out throughout the game. Jordan Sergent, Rion Murrah and Cooper Jeffers were good on the mound and the defense behind them was solid. We continue to get a little bit better each day as a team.”

Junior Cooper Jeffers earned his first win of the season with 3-2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Jeffers gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out three.

Robbie Welhaf took the loss for the Phoenix after allowing two runs, one earned, in 4-2/3 innings of relief. The right-hander surrendered five hits and one walk while striking out five.

The win by the Panthers evens the season series against Elon and improves HPU’s overall record to 17-15 for the season. Elon drops to 16-17 overall with the loss.

High Point got on the board with a run in the second as sophomore Conner Dunbar drove in junior Carson Jackson with a sacrifice bunt.

Elon scored three runs in the third on an RBI double by Kyle Jackson but HPU came back with a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by freshman Joe Jackson, another in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Blake Schunk and a third in the sixth on an RBI single by Dunbar to retake the lead.

The Panthers added another run in the eighth when junior Austen Zente doubled to drive in junior Hunter Lee who led off the inning with a single.

Zente, Jackson, Dunbar, Lee and senior Josh Greene all recorded multiple hits in the win for High Point as the Panthers outhit Elon 12-4 in the contest. Zente finished 2-3 with one RBI and one run scored while Dunbar finished 2-3 with two RBI and Lee went 2-4 with two runs scored.

High Point returns to Big South play with a three-game series against UNC Asheville at Williard Stadium beginning on Thursday, April 13. The Panthers have won two-straight conference series at home and will look for a third against the Bulldogs.