HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb (16-34, 5-16) baseball team suffered a sweep at the hands of league-leading High Point (36-15, 17-4) after dropping game three by the final of 15-7 on Sunday afternoon at Williard Stadium.
After the Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, Gardner-Webb posted a pair of runs of its own in the top of the second with Tanner Thomas launching a two-run homerun to left field.
Once again, HPU took the lead with a single run in the bottom half of the second, but Dale Francis Jr. connected on his team-leading 17th long ball of the season while tying the contest at 3-3.
The back-and-forth affair continued with High Point putting up two more runs in the home half of the third before the 'Dawgs used the homerun to tie the score in the top of the fourth after Merik Carter joined the hitting barrage with a two-run shot to right field.
High Point pushed back ahead with a single run in the bottom of the fourth followed by two runs in the seventh, pushing the lead to 8-5 heading into the final two frames. Gardner-Webb clawed its way back to an 8-7 deficit after Garrett Macias blasted the Runnin' Bulldogs third two-run homer of the game in the top of the eighth.
However, the Panthers blew the game open with seven runs on three hits, including a three-run homerun by Konni Durschlag, in the bottom of the eighth while GWU was held scoreless in the ninth, eventually dropping the game 15-7.
Gardner-Webb will close out the regular season with a three-game set versus Charleston Southern starting on Thursday, May 15 at Bill Masters Field. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.