CHARLESTON – Charleston Southern and High Point began their weekend series on Friday night with the Panthers claiming the first of the games. They built an early lead and were able to hold on for a 14-11 victory.
High Point started the offense for the two squads in the second inning scoring five runs in the frame. It started with a three-run homer and was followed by a pair of RBI singles. In the bottom half of the inning
Chandler Tuupo and
Nathan Martinez picked up RBI hits to cut into the early deficit.
In the third, the Panthers had a two-run home run to go up 7-2, but the Buccaneers responded by scoring three to cut it to a two-run margin.
Lucas Pringle and
Alex Marot both had RBI groundouts and Tuupo had an RBI single to cap off the frame.
The fourth saw High Point tally four runs, but the Bucs responded again.
Tyler Wright had a two RBI single in their side of the inning to bring the margin to 11-7. In the sixth, Charleston Southern scored their eighth run of the day and brought it within three. However, the visitors found more life on offense in the seventh scoring three runs to go ahead by six.
The Buccaneers battled back yet again this time coming in the eighth with three runs to bring the score to 14-11. In the frame, Wright, Pringle and Marot went back-to-back-back with RBI hits. Neither team was able to scrape across another in the ninth, leaving the final at that.
Charleston Southern used five different pitchers in the contest with
Brady Bickett earning the start.
Tristan Stephenson,
Kayden Althoff,
Drew Brown and
Corbin Payne were also used. Althoff and Payne retired all the batters they faced and did not allow runs to score.
Collins led the team at the plate with three hits on the day. As a squad, they finished with 17 hits with six others collecting multiple as well. Wright led the team in RBIs with four while Pringle, Tuupo and Marot each had two.
The teams will return to Nielsen Field @ CSU Ballpark on Saturday afternoon to continue the weekend series. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the game to be available live on ESPN+.