Bucs Topple High Point 11-5; Take Series

Sean Doherty

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Buccaneers broke through, Sunday, to beat High Point 11-5, winning their first Big South series of the season, and improving their record to 19-32, with a 4-14 mark in the Big South. High Point dropped their second Big South series in a row, and falls to 25-27 and 10-11 in the League.

Brandon Roberts got the start on the mound, going six innings, giving up just five hits and striking out four batters to earn his third win of the season. Andrew White pitched two innings of scoreless relief, while Payton Tweddale closed out the game, pitching the final two innings, giving up two runs on five hits.

The Buccaneers out-hit the Panthers 11-6, with Sean Doherty leading the way with three base hits. Stephen Herzog scored twice and had three RBI on the day.

For the second-straight game, the Bucs struck in the top of the first, putting three across to take the early lead. CSU put two on as Chris Krogmeier had the first hit of the game with a single up the middle. Justin Fyle drew a walk, and both came around to score on a double by Herzog. Doherty scored him on a single to right field to put CSU up 3-0.

Tucker Stobbe got two runs back for High Point in the bottom of the second with a two-run homerun, making it 3-2.

The Bucs added one to their lead in the fourth with a solo-shot by Herzog to start the inning. A pair of Panther errors in the fifth helped stage a big inning for the Buccaneers. The Bucs put two on as Brundridge walked, and an attempted sacrifice bunt by Krogmeier forced the first error. The second error, on a ground ball from Anthony Hayes, scored Brundridge and Krogmeier. Hayes came around to score, making it 7-2, on a RBI single by Doherty. A third error in the inning loaded the bases for CSU with two outs, and Adam Brown brought two runs in on a single to centerfield, giving CSU the 9-2 advantage.

High Point answered with a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth, but Fyle went deep to straightaway center for CSU in the top of six to get that run back. It was Fyle’s fifth homer of the season.

Fyle came through again in the eighth with a RBI single up the middle to score Brown, who reached on a single to center to leadoff the inning.

HPU scored once more in the bottom of the eighth as the Bucs turned the only double play of the game, but Randy Schwartz, who reached on an error, came across the plate, making it 11-4. A triple in the bottom of the ninth by Robby Kuzdale led to another run.

The Bucs play Tuesday at 6 p.m., as they head downtown to face The Citadel for the second time this season. CSU won the first meeting at Buccaneer Field, 9-6.