High Point Baseball Drops Matchup With No. 20 UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Competing in its first top-25 matchup of the season, High Point University baseball dropped its final midweek contest of 2019 this Tuesday, falling to No. 20 North Carolina by a final of 7-0.

Despite a lack of offensive production, the Panthers had a big day defensively against the Tar Heels, tying a season-high with three double plays turned. HPU played errorless defense throughout for the 14th time this year, forcing UNC to leave six runners stranded on the night.

After giving up five earned runs in the opening two innings, Panther starter Nick Niarchos held the home side to a single base runner over his two ensuing frames, taking home his first loss of the season in the 7-0 final. Relieving Niarchos in the fifth, Mohammed Eid held UNC to three hits and a single earned run during his 3.0 innings of work, before Garrett Letchworth faced the minimum in his shutout eighth inning.

The Tar Heels used eight different arms to keep the High Point batters guessing on Tuesday night, with Joe Johnson’s leadoff single in the sixth going down as the Panthers’ lone hit of the afternoon. The visiting side did draw four walks off the UNC pitching staff overall with freshmen Sam Zayicek, Brady Pearre and AJ Holcomb each collecting a base on balls.

>> Pearre has reached in each of his last three appearances, drawing a walk in a third straight contest
>> After seeing his 30-game on base streak come to an end this past weekend, Millwee has touched first in each of his last two contests, with a walk this Tuesday and two knocks against Gardner-Webb on Sunday
>> With his shutout eighth against the Tar Heels, Letchworth has given up a single earned run over his last three trips to the hill

COMING UP NEXT
High Point remains on the road for its final test of the regular season, competing in a three-game series in Radford from Thursday through Saturday. The Panthers will be looking to improve on their No. 5 standing within the Big South, defeating RU in three of the pair’s last four meetings.