Site: Farmville, Va. (Buddy Bolding Stadium)
Game One Score: High Point 11, Longwood 3
W: CJ Neese (1-0), L: Lloyd Dominguez (2-1)
Game Two Score: Longwood 8, High Point 1
W: Logan Berrier (2-0), L: Dawson Place (1-3)
Records: HPU 11-16 (9-11 Big South), LWU 10-18 (3-11 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Tuesday, April 13 — vs. Elon (Williard Stadium, High Point, N.C.), 6 p.m.
FARMVILLE, Va. – The High Point University baseball team split its doubleheader at Longwood University on Saturday (April 10), taking the first game before dropping the second.
The Panthers took the first game of the day 11-3 to secure the weekend series and then fell in game two, 8-1. It’s the first weekend series win for the Purple and White since HPU swept UNC Asheville to open conference play over the first weekend of March. High Point is now halfway through the 40 games of the Big South schedule and holds a 9-11 mark in conference play to sit in sixth place in the standings.
GAME ONE
Peyton Carr and Cole Singsank both had big games in the first game of the day, combining for seven of HPU’s 10 RBIs. Carr launched his fifth home run of the season to tie for the team lead with Joe Johnson as part of a two-hit, four-RBI performance while Singsank led the team with three hits and added three RBIs. Johnson and Sam Zayicek also had multiple hits in the game with a pair each – with Zayicek hitting his fifth double of the season and second of the series for the Purple and White’s only extra-base hit outside of Carr’s homer.
CJ Neese made his first career start on the mound and went five innings to get the win, allowing two runs but just one earned on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Parker Dean relieved Neese and made it one out into the ninth, giving up one run on five hits with three strikeouts while Chris Apecechea made his team-leading 10th appearance to get the final two outs, picking up one on strikes.
High Point wasted little time getting on the board, putting up a six-spot in the first inning and chasing Longwood’s starting pitcher before the first out of the game could be recorded. Johnson and Carr walked and Brady Pearre was hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing up Singsank. He singled to left to pick up his first two RBIs of the game when Johnson and Carr touched home. The Lancer starter faced only one more batter, giving up a bunt single to Blake Sutton to load the bases before being relieved.
Adam Stuart took the first offering from the new pitcher into left-center for an RBI single that scored Pearre. A strikeout finally put an out on the board but a wild pitch brought home Singsank and moved the other two runners into scoring position. Zayicek drew a walk to load the bases for the third separate time in the inning and nine-hole hitter Travis Holt delivered with a single down the line in right to plate Sutton. Another strikeout kept the bases loaded and Carr drew a walk with the count full to bring home the Panthers’ sixth run of the inning to establish the comfortable lead.
Neese enjoyed a 1-2-3 start to the game on just seven pitches and only gave up one hit in the second before the Purple and White added to their lead in the third. Johnson stepped up to the plate for the third time in three innings and singled to right to set up the two-run homer from Carr over the wall in left-center to make it 8-0. Neese limited Longwood to one hit again in the third but the Lancers took advantage of a pair of hits and an error on a pickoff attempt by Neese to bring around their first run of the game, albeit unearned, in the fourth.
High Point reached double digits for the fifth time this season and second game in a row with two more runs in the fifth. Zayicek drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on a sac bunt from Holt before a foul popup to the catcher had two outs on the board. It didn’t matter to Carr, as he singled through the right side of the infield to score Zayicek for his fourth RBI of the game. Pearre singled to right to move Carr to third and then Singsank put one past the shortstop to bring home the 10th run of the game and make it 10-1.
Neese gave up a four-pitch walk to start the sixth and then was taken out for Dean, but the run came around to score on a two-out double to cut HPU’s lead to 10-2. Each team only scored one more run in the game, with High Point’s coming in the eighth. Singsank had an infield single to start the inning and then advanced to second when Justin Wilkins entered as a pinch hitter for Sutton and was plunked with the second pitch he saw.
Both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch and Singsank came home for the Purple and White’s final run when Stuart grounded out to third. HPU looked like it might add to its lead when Ryan Russell walked and stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position again but a flyout to left field ended the inning before more damage could be done. Longwood added one final run in the bottom of the ninth, starting with a leadoff single. A wild pitch moved him to second and a fly ball to deep left advanced the runner to third, setting up an RBI double to center for the game’s final run in the 11-3 HPU victory.
GAME TWO
The Panthers drew blood first in the second game, scoring their only run of the game in the second. Singsank reached on an error by the third baseman and moved to second on a sac bunt from Sutton before Stuart singled up the gut to bring Singsank home.
Longwood tied the game in the bottom of the second with a solo homer to right-center and then took the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth. Two singles and a wild pitch moved two runners into scoring position and another single and a double brought both runs home.
High Point loaded the bases in the fifth inning with two outs after Pearre drew a walk but a fly ball to right ended HPU’s quest to cut into the deficit. The Lancers added to their lead in the bottom of the inning, bringing a run around on a double and a single before stranding runners on the corners. Two more Longwood runs came around in the sixth inning and the final two touched home in the seventh for the 8-1 Lancer decision to prevent the sweep.
HPU has its first home game of April on Tuesday (April 13) when Elon occupies the third-base dugout at Williard Stadium for a rematch of this past Tuesday’s 8-7 win for the Phoenix. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.