HPU baseball falls in rubber game at Liberty

• High Point fell to Liberty in the weekend finale on Sunday, 14-2.
• The loss drops HPU to 9-9 overall and 1-2 in the Big South.
• The Panthers next return home to Williard Stadium for a game against Davidson on Tuesday, March 21.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The High Point University baseball team dropped the rubber game against Liberty, 14-2, on Sunday afternoon in Lynchburg, Va. The Panthers drop to 9-9 on the season with the loss.

Freshman Trevor Holloway took the loss for High Point and fell to 1-2 on the season. The right-hander allowed six earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three in 3-2/3 innings of work.

Vinnie Tarantola got the win for the Flames after throwing two scoreless innings of relief out of the bullpen. Tarantola allowed just one hit while striking out two.

Liberty got a run in the first but HPU came right back to tie the game in the next half inning on an RBI single from sophomore Conner Dunbar. Junior Spencer Brown reached with a two-out error and came around to score on the Dunbar base hit.

After the Flames retook the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second, HPU got a run back in the third to pull within one at 3-2. Senior Josh Greene and junior Jordan Sergent led off the inning with back-to-back singles and junior Zack Gray followed with a sac fly to drive in Greene.

The hosts scored in all but one inning, adding two runs in the third, one in the fourth, three in the fifth, two in the seventh and three in the eighth to bring the final score to 14-2.

Brown went 1-3 at the plate with a run scored for HPU while junior Blake Schunk was the only HPU player to record multiple hits, going 2-4 on the day.

High Point is back in action on Tuesday, March 21, when the team will welcome Davidson to Williard Stadium for a midweek contest. The Panthers will try to complete the season sweep of Davidson after earning a road win over the Wildcats earlier this season. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.