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#2 High Point Advances to Championship Game with 12-11 Walk-Off Win
By High Point Athletics
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Eric Grintz hit a walk-off two-run home run to lift the High Point University baseball team to the Big South Conference Tournament Championship. HPU came back from a seven-run deficit to beat the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, 12-11.
Head Coach Joey Hammond: "We believe in ourselves, and we believe in our offense. When you are down seven runs, you don't expect to get them all back right away. If you spend three minutes in this dugout, you know there is belief constantly. In the middle of the game, Gus Hughes settled back down, and we hurt him with those seven runs. We hurt him because we didn't handle the baseball, we didn't play good defense. He settled down, got back to the bottom of the zone and I'm proud of him for giving us a chance to get back into the game. I can't say enough about our offense."
Gus Hughes started this afternoon's game with the Buccaneers. Hughes shoved 6.1 innings, allowing nine runs as only two were earned runs, on seven hits, and punching out seven batters.
Hughes started his outing with an easy 1-2-3 inning after recording his first strikeout of the afternoon. The Panthers got nothing across in the bottom of the first. Peyton Carr recorded the only hit that inning.
The Bucs had the bases loaded in the top of second as a SAC fly to center scored their first run of the game. Another two runners crossed the plate off a single to center field. CSU then scored another three runs off two singles in the gap as the Bucs took a commanding, 7-0 lead.
The Panthers got two back off a Brayden Simpson solo shot to left center and then a Konni Durschlag RBI single to score Patrick Matthews from second. The Bucs walked Cael Chatham and Carr to load the basses with two outs but that was it for the Panthers in the second inning.
The top of the third brought home another runner for the Bucs as a solo homer to left field made it an 8-2 ball game. Hughes struck out his 100th batter of the season to retire the side in the second.
The Panthers crawled back to score three in the third inning. High Point put two runners on after a single by Eric Grintz and Miggy Echazarreta walked with one out. Simpson drove one that stayed fair down the third base line to score Grintz from second. The very next batter, Matthews flew out to left field to allow Echazarreta to tag from third and score. HPU tallied another run as Durschlag doubled to the right center gap to bring home the third run of the inning.
Through three innings at Truist Point, The Bucs led HPU, 8-5.
Neither team got on the board nor made any noise in the fourth inning.
Hughes worked his way through the top of the fifth to put a zero on the scoreboard for the Bucs.
HPU grabbed the lead in the fifth inning after scoring four runs to make it a 9-8 game. Grintz led off the bottom half with a single and then Echazarreta poked one down the left field line for a double advancing Grintz to third. One swing off Simpsons bat and it was a tie game. He hit his second homer of the game over the left field wall to tie the game at eight. The Panthers grabbed their first lead of the afternoon as Durschlag parked one to left center for his fifth homer of the year. HPU took a 9-8 lead over the Bucs.
Through six, the Panthers led, 9-8.
Christian Baker relieved Hughes with one out and a runner on second in the seventh. Baker retired the side as he recorded one strikeout and a groundout to end it.
The Buccaneers brought the tying run home in the top of the seventh off an RBI double to center. The Panthers then took the lead again in the seventh as Grintz drilled a double to center field to score Stuart to make it 10-9.
Tyler Romanias came out of the bullpen in the eighth with one out and a runner on first. He struck out the first batter he saw. Hammond brought in Chatham to relieve Romanias after he got his guy out. Chatham got out of the inning unscathed after giving up a walk as Durschlag made the third out in center.
The eighth inning was a goose egg for both squads as Chatham took the hill again for the top of the ninth with a one run lead. After a leadoff single, the go-ahead home run was hit over the left field wall to put the Bucs up, 11-10.
High Point came to bat in the bottom of the ninth looking to try and win it with a walk off to send them to the championship. Stuart led off with a hit by pitch, and then Sam Schner laid down a perfect bunt to advance Stuart to second. Grintz, who already hit in the go-ahead run in the seventh took a 2-1 pitch with one out and smashed it to deep center as it soared over the wall to win it for HPU in the bottom of the ninth.
"Eric Grintz are you kidding me," said Hammond. "I'm so proud of him. The day he just had, wow. We love him in these moments. This is a guy who's got post season experience from a power five school. We want him up in those situations. I'd be lying to you if I told you that I expected a back side homer right there. But I absolutely expect him to give us a professional at-bat because he always does."
The Panthers won, 12-11, as Grintz walked it off to send HPU to the Big South Conference Tournament Championship. This is the second appearance in program history and first since 2018.
Up Next: The Panthers will play in the championship game tomorrow (5/25) at 12 p.m. They will face the winner of the No. 3 USC Upstate vs. No. 4 Charleston Southern game.
