JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University baseball used a three-run eighth inning to break a deadlock and capture a season-opening 6-3 victory over High Point on Friday night.
The Dolphins (1-0) used balanced hitting and struck out 13 Panthers batters to win its season-opener for the first time since 2016.
Mason Adams earned the opening night start and produced, striking out the side twice and collecting 10 total punchouts in his 4.2 inning start.
The Dolphins were the first to touch home in the third inning after
Chase Malloy reached base on a throwing error then took second base on a balk call. On a passed ball to left fielder
Jonah Diaz, Malloy was able to advance to third, then scored on an RBI groundout by Diaz.
After a scoreless Panther fourth inning,
Jake Berg came to the plate with two outs in the bottom half of the inning and delivered with a two RBI double, driving in
Christian Coipel and
Blake DeLamielleure.
The Dolphins lead 3-0 after four, but the Panthers would not go away quietly. They came right back in the top half of the 5th inning with a leadoff double that was driven in the very next at bat. Two batters later, a two-out double put runners at second and third.
Mason Adams walked Brady Pierre to load the bases and then walked Blake Sutton for High Point's first two runs to cut the Dolphin lead to 3-2.
JU brought in
Blake Barquin to get out the jam. The Panthers comeback was put on hold, but they were not done yet. In the top of the eighth inning, after a leadoff walk and advancement to second base on the game's second ball call, a base hit and a fielding error on Jacksonville allowed for the tying run to score.
The Dolphins had to get the bats going in their half of the eighth and did just that. With one out, DeLamielleure got himself a base hit and
Cam Ridley walked after. With two-on and one-out, Berg stepped to the plate already with a two-RBI double and he delivered again with an RBI base hit to regain the Dolphins lead, 4-3. After a
Jesus Pacheco bunt for a hit, the lineup turned back over to Malloy, who extended the Jacksonville lead to 6-3 with a two-RBI double. That score would hold up as
Tyler Vogel threw a one-two-three top of ninth to get the win in relief.
UP NEXT
The Dolphins and Panthers meet again tomorrow at 2 p.m. at John Sessions Stadium, where the Dolphins will be seeking their first series win of the season.
COACH'S COMMENTS
THREE STRIKES
