HIGH POINT, N.C. - High Point Panther starting pitcher Ryan Retz threw his first career complete game, and his team scored in its final six at-bats en route to a 12-3 win over the VMI Keydets in Big South baseball action Friday night in High Point, N.C.
Retz (4-2) threw 93 pitches in going the distance, allowing three runs on eight hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out a career-high eight. High Point (17-11, 3-1 Big South) trailed 1-0 early thanks to a first inning run by VMI (9-16, 3-4 Big South), but took the lead for good in the fourth. Rob Dickinson had two hits to lead the way for the Keydets, while Coby Cowgill (4-1) took the loss for VMI, lasting a season-low four-plus innings and being charged with seven runs (six earned).
The Keydets drew first blood against Retz on the 75-degree, cloudless day, as Dickinson doubled to deep center field on the first pitch of the game. George Piccirilli bunted him to third, and Cameron Walter plated the game's first run with a sacrifice fly.
Cowgill, meanwhile, cruised through the first two frames, as he retired the first seven hitters in a row. With one out in the third, however, a hit batter and a walk put two on, and one out later, an infield single loaded the bases. Sal Pezzino then singled to right, scoring a run and tying the game, 1-1.
HPU took the lead in the fourth, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Mike Miedzianowski, a RBI single by Dane McDermott and a RBI groundout off the bat of Sean Wilson. The three runs made it a 4-1 game, but VMI came right back. Nick Dwyer and Michael Donovan posted back to back singles to start the Keydet fifth, and Matt Winn moved both runners with a sacrifice bunt. A sacrifice fly by Dickinson got one run in, and Donovan scored on a two-out, RBI single by Piccirilli, making it a 4-3 contest.
The home team knocked Cowgill out in the fifth, as the first three hitters reached to open the inning. Reed Garrett relieved, and back to back sacrifice flies made it a three-run contest once again, 6-3. Miedzianowski then hit a skimmer to Donovan at second base, but the throw to first was wild and allowed another run to score, making it 7-3.
The Keydets did not score again, while High Point added a single run in the seventh, two in the eighth and two in the ninth to account for the final margin. Brandon Angus posted his first career hit in a pinch-hit appearance in the ninth.
VMI baseball will return to action Saturday, taking on High Point in game two of the three-game weekend series. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
