Site: Charleston, S.C. (CSU Ballpark)
Records: CSU 9-11 (9-8 Big South), HPU 9-14 (7-10 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Tuesday, April 6 — at Elon (Elon, N.C.), 6 p.m.
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The High Point University baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to Charleston Southern University on Friday (April 2). The Buccaneers took the first game 10-7 before winning game two 15-4 in seven innings due to the 10-run rule in doubleheaders this season.
Peyton Carr had multiple hits in both games for HPU to be the only Panthers to do so in each contest. One of his hits in the first game of the day was a homer to left field, part of a 4-RBI game for the freshman. He now has four home runs on the year, tied for the team lead with Joe Johnson.
Game One Score: Charleston Southern 10, High Point 7
W: Sam Massey (1-0), L: Dawson Place (1-2)
High Point started the scoring early in game one, putting two on the board in the opening frame. Carr singled to plate Johnson before Carr came around on a double steal attempt. Charleston Southern got one back in the bottom of the first but Carr hit his two-run shot in the second to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead. The Buccaneers took the lead in the third, scoring five runs with two outs to lead 5-4.
It remained a one-run game until the sixth when the hosts scored two more, taking advantage of an error on a squeeze bunt with the bases loaded and a sac fly. High Point got one back in the bottom of the seventh when Brady Pearre singled to score Travis Holt but Charleston Southern put up three more in the seventh to lead 10-5. HPU tried to mount a comeback in the ninth and brought two around on sac flies from Johnson and Carr but only got the two runs, falling 10-7.
Game Two Score: Charleston Southern 15, High Point 4 (7 Innings)
W: Jordan Bridges (1-0), L: David Keith (1-1)
The Panthers struck first again in the second game when Sam Zayicek sent one deep enough to center to score Blake Sutton on a sacrifice in the second inning. The lead didn’t last for long as Charleston Southern brought two around in the bottom of the inning on a pair of pitching mishaps, first a balk and then on a wild pitch. The Buccaneers tacked on two more in the third when a single to right scored a pair with the bases loaded.
High Point was able to answer in the fourth, scoring two runs on an RBI single from Zayicek for his second and third RBIs of the game. Sutton was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Justin Ebert singled to put two on. Adam Stuart laid down a sac bunt to put both in scoring position and Zayicek singled up the middle to score both and pull within one, 4-3.
The score remained 4-3 until the fifth inning when Charleston Southern blew the game wide open. The Buccaneers scored six in the frame, all coming with zero or one out, and then put up five more in the sixth with no outs to make it 15-4. HPU was able to get one run in between the two big innings for the Bucs when Carr singled to score Zayicek but that was all the offense the Panthers could muster. High Point only got one baserunner on in the seventh inning before three straight infield outs ended the game since the home team was winning by 10 or more heading into the bottom half of the seventh in a doubleheader.
HPU will look to rebound with its first non-conference game since Feb. 28 when the Panthers travel to Elon on Tuesday (April 6), with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.