HPU Baseball Rallies For A 7-6 Win At Longwood

• High Point scored six unanswered runs to come from behind and pick up a 7-6 win.
• The Panthers clinched the series with the win and improved to 14-12 overall.
• Sophomore Andre Scrubb pitched 3-1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to earn the win.

FARMVILLE, Va. – The High Point University baseball team scored six unanswered runs to come from behind and pick up a 7-6 win over Longwood on Sunday afternoon in Farmville, Va. The Panthers won the series two games to one with the victory over the Lancers.

“Games like this are the reason that I am bald,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “I will take winning ugly over losing anytime. I’m proud of these guys and I’m glad they decided to play the second half of the game. A series win is always a good thing when you are on the road.”

High Point trailed, 6-1, at the start of the sixth inning. The Panthers scored four runs in the sixth, one run in the seventh and one run in the eighth to earn its biggest comeback win of the season.

Senior Cody Manzella led off the sixth with a single and scored on a throwing error by the Lancers. Freshman Carson Jackson hit an RBI single and senior Dane McDermott drove in a run with an RBI groundout. Sophomore Brenden Rivera drove in the fourth run in the sixth with an RBI single to pull HPU to within one at 6-5.

High Point tied the game in the following inning with a sacrifice fly by Manzella and then moved ahead in the eighth on an RBI single by McDermott.

Sophomore Andre Scrubb threw 3-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win and improve to 2-0 on the season. Scrubb allowed just two hits while striking out three. Redshirt-junior Joe Goodman got the final two outs with two men on in the ninth to earn his second save of the weekend.

Allen Ellis took the loss for Longwood after giving up two earned runs on two hits in 2-1/3 innings of relief.

HPU improved to 14-12 overall and 4-2 in the Big South with Sunday’s win. The Panthers have opened conference play with two-straight weekend series wins. Longwood falls to 11-15 overall and 3-6 in the Big South with the loss.

High Point got on the board first with a run in the top of the first to go ahead 1-0. Freshman Hunter Lee walked to leadoff the game and moved to third on a stolen base and an error before scoring on a groundout by Manzella.

Longwood scored two runs in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single by Connar Bastaic. The Lancers had two runners reach on back-to-back hit batters and both came around to score on a bloop single to shallow right-center.

The Lancers added a run in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings to push its lead to 6-1. The runs in the second, third and fourth all came on RBI groundouts while the run in the fifth came on a throwing error by senior Tony Fortier-Bensen.

Jackson and McDermott both recorded multiple hits in the win for High Point. Jackson went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored while McDermott went 2-4 with two RBI. Manzella finished 1-4 at the plate with two RBI and one runs scored and Lee went 1-3 with two walks and two runs scored.

High Point continues its current nine-game road trip on Tuesday, March 31, when the team travels to Boone, N.C. to take on Appalachian State at 6 p.m. The Mountaineers beat HPU by a score of 4-0 at Williard Stadium in the first meeting between the two teams.