HPU Report follows Elon Report
HIGH POINT, N.C. – An early offensive outburst, including a season-high quintet of home runs, helped the Elon University baseball team capture a 14-8 victory at High Point on Tuesday night. The win improved Elon to 125-85 all-time against the Panthers.
At the plate, Elon (12-13) would see Kyle Jackson homer twice and drive in a season-best five runs. Cam Devanneyalso added a pair of homers and drove in four. Ryne Ogrenmatched his personal best with four hits.
High Point (10-13) saw Austen Zente drive in three in a three-hit night.
Sean Byrnes (2-0) picked up the win after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
The loss went to High Point starter Peter Ripke (0-1) who was touched up for five runs on six hits in 2.2 innings.
How It Happened: Elon was able to jump out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Joe Satterfieldstarted the game by drawing a four-pitch walk and scored on Ogren’s double to the left field corner. Ogren then came in when James Venuto doubled to the gap in left-center.
The Phoenix added to its lead in the third thanks to back-to-back, two-out homers from Jackson and Shawn Blake. Jackson’s shot to left was a two-run bomb that brought home Ogren who had singled. Blake then drilled an 0-1 pitch over the right field wall to give Elon a 5-0 lead.
Devanney got in on the long ball party in the fourth, connecting on a two-run shot to left to make it 7-0.
High Point got on the board in the last of the fourth when Zente led off with a solo home run down the left field line.
Elon’s offensive onslaught continued in the fifth as the Phoenix scored three more. With the bases full, Devanney singled home one. Satterfield picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice before Ogren’s second double of the game scored the 10th Elon run of the game. With two outs, Jackson belted a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall for his second homer of the game, this one a three-run shot that gave the Phoenix a 13-1 advantage.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Zente drove in two more for High Point with a single to left-center. The Panthers would add another on a Josh Greene single to right.
High Point cut it to 13-6 in the last of the seventh, scoring one on a sacrifice fly and another on a wild pitch.
Devanney added to the Elon lead by leading off the ninth with a home run to left.
High Point’s Joe Johnson led off the last of the ninth with a home run to right-center. The Panthers would also score on a bases-loaded walk in the inning.
Notes: The last time that Elon hit five or more home runs in a game was April 23, 2010 when the Phoenix hit five at College of Charleston… Ryne Ogren extended his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games… During his streak, Ogren has gone 27-for-55 (.491)… The win was Elon’s first away from Latham Park this season (1-5).
On Deck: Elon returns to Latham Park for its second CAA series of the year as the Phoenix hosts James Madison. The series is slated to begin with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday, March 31.
HPU baseball falls at home to Elon
• High Point dropped a 14-8 decision to Elon at Williard Stadium on Tuesday night.
• Junior Austen Zente went 3-5 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored while senior Josh Greene reached base four times, going 2-3 with two walks.
• The Panthers are right back at it tomorrow night with a road game at NC Central in Durham, N.C.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University baseball team fell at home to Elon by a score of 14-7 on Tuesday night at Williard Stadium. Junior Austen Zente drove in three for the Panthers in the loss.
“We are struggling to find the depth on the mound to make ourselves competitive in midweek games right now,” head coach Craig Cozart said. “Kevin Bell and Trey Piesco pitched well late in the game, we played errorless baseball and our offense really started clicking in the later innings, but our starting pitching didn’t put us in position to compete. All of that being said the energy in our dugout was really good tonight. We are going through a tough time right now but we are in it for the long run and these guys are willing to keep working, grind it out and make this better.”
Zente finished 3-5 out of the leadoff position with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. He was one of two HPU players to record multiple hits along with senior Josh Greene who went 2-3 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored.
Senior Peter Ripke took the loss for the Panthers, dropping to 0-1 on the season. The right-hander gave up five earned runs on six hits and a walk while striking out one in 2-2/3 innings of work.
Sean Byrnes got the win in relief for Elon after pitching 1-2/3 scoreless innings in which he allowed two hits and a walk and struck out one.
The loss drops the Panthers to 10-13 on the season while Elon improves to 12-13 overall in 2017.
Elon took a 7-0 lead after 3-1/2 innings as the Phoenix scored two runs in the first then added three runs in the fourth and another two in the fourth.
Down by seven, Zente put the Panthers on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run, his fifth of the season. The junior outfielder turned on the second pitch he saw and hit a hard shot right down the line and over the wall in left to move into a tie for the team lead along with junior Carson Jackson.
The Phoenix scored six runs in the top of the fifth to go ahead by a score of 13-1, but HPU answered back with three runs in the bottom of the frame. The Purple & White loaded the bases on three walks ahead of Zente who drove in two with an RBI single. After a single by redshirt-senior Tim Mansfield loaded the bases again, Greene delivered an RBI single to drive in the third run of the inning.
HPU continued to chip away at the Elon lead with two runs in the seventh. The Panthers once again loaded the bases and junior Jordan Sergent hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the first run of the inning then Zente scored his second run of the contest on a wild pitch.
After Elon added a run in the top of the ninth on a solo home run, High Point returned the favor in the bottom of the frame as freshman Joe Johnson hit a solo shot to lead off the Panther half of the inning, his first collegiate home run.
High Point returns to action tomorrow when the team heads to Durham, N.C., to face NC Central in the second game of a home-and-home season series between the two sides. The Panthers fell at home to Central earlier this season by a score of 11-5 after the Eagles scored six ninth-inning runs to break a 5-5 tie.
Rough year…
How do these 2 schools not recruit local players? UNCG is swinging pretty well with local kids!
NCAA D1 Team Batting Averages(295 teams):
1- UNCG @ .338
155-Elon @ .264
244-HPU @ .244
I wish Elon would, but tuition costs seem to be one major obstacle.
If you look back however, at the more successful teams/years at Elon, the core players were NC guys. I think they need to get back to their roots. Too many out of state guys who don’t understand what made Elon solid. They are no longer blue collar, play with a chip on your shoulder because UNC,ECU,NCSU, etc didn’t go after you. That’s my take, opinion.
Those stats along with their records Speaks volumes. Watched a JUCO game last week at First National Park. There were about 10 schools in attendance, but no HPU & Elon? Both of these schools had players that could swing it..