FIRST PITCH
Score: High Point 6 | Queens 3
Records: High Point (17-16 overall, 6-3 Big South) | Queens (8-24 overall, 4-8 ASUN)
Location: High Point, N.C (Williard Stadium)
 
The Short Story: Despite jumping out to an early lead, the Queens University of Charlotte baseball team fell 6-3 in a midweek tilt against in-state opponent High Point on Tuesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Dillon Lewis wasted no time jumping on the Panthers as he led off the game with a solo home run to give the Royals a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
-In the second inning, the Royals created a scoring threat with consecutive walks to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Two batters later, Evan Zapp lined a single into center field to add a run extending the Royals lead to 2-0.
-The Panthers got a run back in the bottom half of the second. Dawson Harman led off the inning with a double. Two batters later, Sean McGee laced an RBI single to left field bringing home the first High Point run.
-Following a scoreless third inning, High Point exploded for four runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning. A double down the left field line started the inning, before Justin Ruiz blasted a two-run home run over the left field fence. Two walks, and a sacrifice bunt then put two runners in scoring position with one out. A sacrifice fly scored one of the runners for the Panthers, and then a throwing error on the throw in pushed across the Panthers fifth run of the game.
-Queens created a scoring threat in the fifth with a leadoff double by Dillon Lewis. However, a groundout, a foul out, and a groundout ended the threat for the Royals.
-High Point led off the fifth with a triple before a fielder's choice brought home another Panthers run extending their lead to 6-2.
-The Panthers pitching turned up the heat in the next three innings retiring nine out of 10 Royals batters across the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
-Down to their last three outs, the Royals created a scoring threat in the ninth inning. Back-to-back singles opened the inning for the Royals. A fielder's choice put runners at the corners before another groundout scored a run for Queens. Down to their final out, with the tying run on deck, a strikeout ended the Royals threat as they fell 6-3.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-Junior left fielder Dillon Lewis led the offensive attack with a 2-for-5 performance. The Charlotte native extended his on-base streak to 17 straight games with his 19^th multi-hit game of the season.
-Jake Barbour, Nick Alderfer, Zach Weston, Mason Kelly, Jacob Grimes, and Evan Zapp each recorded hits on the evening for the Royals. Mason Kelly extended his hitting streak to six straight games with a single in the ninth.
-Jack Brooker got his first career start on the bump for the Royals. The freshman worked 3.0 innings allowing just one run on four hits.
-Tanner Cullen and Joseph Rodriguez worked two scoreless innings to close out the game and keep the Panthers offense at bay.
 
NEXT UP
Queens will continue their road stretch this weekend when they travel west to face Eastern Kentucky for a three-game conference series. The series is set to get underway on Friday, April 12^th at 7:00 p.m. EST.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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