HPU Baseball Evens Weekend Series With 10-3 Win At South Florida

• High Point pulled away for a 10-3 win over South Florida, scoring eight unanswered runs.
• Sophomore Chris Clare went 2-5 with three RBI while senior Josh Spano and freshman Hunter Lee each scored three runs.
• Sophomore Cas Silber earned the win in relief. It was his first appearance of the season.

TAMPA, Fla. – The High Point University baseball team scored eight unanswered runs to pull away for a 10-3 win on a rainy Saturday night in Tampa, Fla. Sophomore Chris Clare went 2-5 with three RBI for the Panthers.

“I am very proud of our guys because of the mentality they came out with today,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “We showed true toughness. The final score didn’t indicate how tight that game was in the middle. Our guys stayed with our approach and I am excited that we have put ourselves in position to win the series. When we throw strikes and play defense like tonight we will be in every game.”

Sophomore Cas Silber earned the win in his first appearance of the season. Silber pitched 3-1/3 innings in relief and allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks while striking out four. Junior Tyler Britton got the start and pitched 4-1/3 innings. The junior allowed two earned runs on two hits and struck out four.

Casey Mulholland suffered the loss for USF to drop to 1-2 on the season. Mulholland pitched 5-2/3 innings and allowed five runs, none earned, on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

The win moves High Point to 2-4 on the season while South Florida drops to 5-4-1.

The Panthers took advantage of two throwing errors by Mulholland to score two runs in the fourth and take a 2-0 lead. Senior Cody Manzella led off the inning with a double and came around to score when a bunt attempt by senior Tony Fortier-Bensen was thrown wide of third by the USF pitcher. The HPU shortstop took second on the play then scored when Mulholland threw a bunt attempt by sophomore Alexander Gross over the head of the USF first baseman.

South Florida got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Kyle Teaf hit a single and scored one batter later on a double to the gap by Levi Borders.

The Bulls pulled in front by a 3-2 margin thanks to two runs in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and a runner at second, Nik Alfonso hit a single to right. Senior Dane McDermott beat Austin Lueck with the throw home, but the USF base runner knocked the ball loose. Kevin Merrell followed with a double to drive in Alfonso, putting South Florida in front.

HPU pulled back in front in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs to go ahead, 5-3. Gross and senior Josh Spano reached on a fielder’s choice and a single ahead of freshman Hunter Lee, who doubled into the gap to drive in Gross. McDermott then hit a hot shot to first that was misplayed allowing both Spano and Lee to score.

The Panthers added to their lead with three runs in the seventh to make the score 8-3. All three runs scored by HPU came with two outs. High Point scored the first run on a bases-loaded walk by McDermott before Clare hit a single to center to plate the other two runs.

High Point scored two more runs in the ninth to make the final score 10-3. Spano scored the first run on a wild pitch and Lee scored on a Clare groundout to put HPU ahead by seven.

Sophomore Josh Greene went 3-5 at the plate while Fortier-Bensen went 2-5 with two runs scored. Spano and Lee both scored three times on the night with Lee adding an RBI.

High Point and South Florida meet in the rubber game of the three-game series on Sunday, March 1 at the USF Baseball Stadium in Tampa, Fla. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.