HIGH POINT, N.C .-  The High Point Rockers and Lexington Legends were deadlocked 1-1 through the first six innings on Friday night before the Legends exploded for 10 runs in the final three innings to subdue the Rockers 11-3 in front of 2,128 fans at Truist Point.

Lexington started its late surge in the seventh inning against reliever Matt Frisbee when he allowed a pair of hits and a walk to load the bases for the Legends.  Andy Atwood delivered a two-run double to put the Legends up 3-1 and Xane Washington’s two-run single gave Lexington a 5-1 advantage. Pedro Gonzalez then smacked a two-run homer as Lexington surged ahead 7-1.

Lexington starter Tanner Tully (W, 1-2) kept the Rockers in check through his six innings of work, allowing just three hits, one being a solo homer to Evan Edwards leading off the fourth that tied the game 1-1.

The Legends took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Colin Burgess singled and scored on a Brady Whalen single.

Lexington tacked on four more runs in the ninth off reliever Stevie Branche.  The Rockers rallied briefly in the ninth with Ben Aklinski blasting a solo homer and Nick Longhi driving in a run with a single.

The loss moves Lexington and High Point into a tie for the Atlantic League’s South Division with identical 13-6 records.

The two teams meet again on Saturday at 6:35 pm at Truist Point where fans will receive a free recyclable tote bag.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – High Point’s Kyle Barraclough and a pair of relievers combined to hold the Lexington Legends to just two hits in posting a 5-2 win on Wednesday morning at Legends Field.

Barraclough (W, 2-0) allowed a single in the third inning and a double in the fourth but was otherwise nearly unhittable, throwing 87 pitches over his six innings, 55 for strikes.

Jacob Edwards came on in relief in the seventh and set the Legends down in order in each frame. Tommy Doyle (S, 4) pitched around a couple of walks but struck out three in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.

Nick Longhi, who was leading the Atlantic League in homers a year ago when he tore an ACL and missed the remainder of the season, hit his first homer since his return, leading off the second inning to give the Rockers a 1-0 lead.

Aidan Brewer’s solo blast leading off the top of the third put High Point ahead 2-0.

Lexington put up its first run in the third when Ryan McCarthy walked, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Pedro Gonzalez’s single. The Legends tied the game in the fourth on a sac fly by Brian Fuentes.

The Rockers broke the tie and put the game away with three runs in the sixth. Longhi plated a run on a fielder’s choice before Drew Mendoza hit his third homer of the season, a two-run shot, to give High Point a 5-2 lead.

Longhi finished with two hits and two RBI for the Rockers. High Point’s pitching staff walked seven and struck out 12 on the afternoon.

The third and final game of the series is slated for Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. at Legends Field. The Rockers will then return home and play host to the Legends this weekend. Friday’s game at Truist Point will feature a 6:35 p.m. first pitch and a postgame fireworks show.

NOTES: Drew Mendoza has homered in back-to-back games . . . D.J. Burt has a hit in seven straight games . . . The Rockers were caught stealing for the first time this year when Burt was caught in a run-down. High Point is now 35 of 36 in stolen base attempts.

GASTONIA, N.C. – Ben Aklinski hit his ninth career grand slam as a Rocker and Matt Solter scattered seven hits over 6.1 innings to lead High Point to a 5-4 win over Gastonia on Sunday afternoon at CaroMont Health Park. The win gave the Rockers a 2-1 series win and marked High Point’s fifth consecutive series win to start the season.

Aklinski’s slam lifted the Rockers from a 2-0 deficit in the third inning and gave High Point a 4-2 advantage.

Solter allowed a couple of early runs including a leadoff homer by Kevin Watson, Jr. in the bottom of the first inning and an RBI single off the bat of Jack Reinheimer in the second. But Solter settled down and did not allow a run over the next four innings until Reinheimer hit a solo homer in the seventh to cut High Point’s lead to 4-3. Solter departed after walking Watson before Justin Wylie doubled into the right field corner off reliever Jacob Edwads (W, 2-1) to tie the game at 4-4.

In the top of the ninth, the Rockers put two men onboard against Gastonia reliever Bryan Blanton (L, 0-1) when Evan Edwards singled off the glove of second baseman Justin Wylie, scoring Max Viera from second and giving the Rockers a 5-4 lead.

Stevie Branche (S, 2) came on in the ninth to preserve the win. He pitched around a single by Watson before retiring the final two Peppers to give the Rockers the win.

Aidan Brewer and Viera each had a pair of hits for the Rockers.

The victory lifts the Rockers to 11-4 on the season and a tie for first place in the Atlantic League’s South Division with Lexington. The Rockers and Legends, along with the York Revolution, share the top record in the ALPB at 11-4.

After an off-day on Monday, High Point will start a three-game series at Lexington on Tuesday night.

NOTES: Aklinski is High Point’s all-time leader in grand slams with nine . . . His nine slams have come in 385 games as a Rocker . . . For comparison, the active MLB leader in grand slams is Manny Machado of San Diego with 12 in 1,773 career games . . . The Rockers signed MLB veteran OF Jordan Luplow and he was in the starting line-up, batting fifth and playing left field . . . Max Viera started at second base on Sunday, marking his fourth different position this week . . . He started at third base on Wednesday, at shortstop Thursday and Friday and in left field on Saturday.

GASTONIA, N.C. – Brandon Backman tossed four-hit ball over six innings while striking out 10 to lead the High Point Rockers to a 4-2 win over Gastonia on Saturday night at CaroMont Health Park.

Backman (W, 2-0) was outstanding all night, yielding a first inning walk but not allowing a hit until the fourth inning. He fanned eight of the first 10 batters he faced before exiting after six innings.

Nolan Watson gave the Rockers a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when his sacrifice fly brought home Nick Longhi who had singled and then moved to third on a double by Drew Mendoza.

A pair of defensive mishaps led to High Point taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Mendoza’s line drive to right was dropped by Eric De La Rosa. When Mendoza took off to steal third, the throw from catcher Patrick Mazeika skipped into the outfield, allowing Mendoza to trot home, giving High Point a 2-0 lead.

Gastonia then applied the same tactics as the Rockers had in scoring twice in the fourth inning. Justin Wylie doubled and stole third and when Nolan Watson’s through got away from Mendoza at third, Wylie scored to cut the lead to 2-1. With two outs in the fourth, Narciso Crook doubled to left and Dalton Guthrie did the same, plating Crook with the tying run at 2-2.

High Point took a 3-2 lead in the fifth when, with one out, D.J. Burt singled to left. He then stole both second and third without a throw. After Watson drew a walk from Gastonia reliever Parker Kruglewicz (L, 0-1), Watson stole second, drawing a throw from Mazeika. But Burt took off for the plate as soon as Mazeika threw to second and recorded a steal of home.

Ben Aklinski hit a solo homer with one out in the seventh off reliever Ryan Hennen to stake the Rockers to a 4-2 lead. It was Aklinski’s fourth homer of the year.

Backman went six innings, striking out 10 while allowing just four hits and two runs with a lone walk. Jonah Scolaro came on to start the seventh and put the Peppers down in order. He exited with two on and one out in the eighth, yielding to Tommy Doyle who induced a 5-4-3 double play from Wylie, preserving High Point’s 4-2 lead and earning his third save of the season.

Gastonia starter Connor Grey allowed just three hits over his five innings but walked four with three strikeouts.

High Point plays the final game of the series at Gastonia on Sunday at 4 p.m.

NOTES:  Backman’s 10 strikeouts broke his previous club season high of eight set against Southern Maryland on April 27.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point’s Drew Mendoza drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 10^th inning to give the Rockers a 4-3 win over the Gastonia Ghost Peppers at Truist Point on Wednesday night.

Tied at three after nine innings, High Point reliever Jonah Scolaro (W, 2-0) put the Ghost Peppers down in order in the top of the 10^th. In the bottom of the 10^th, with Luis Gonzalez starting on second base for the Rockers, Ben Aklinski drew a walk and Evans Edwards grounded out to second, moving both runners into scoring position. After an intentional walk to Max Viera, Mendoza faced Gastonia reliever Justus Sheffield (L, 1-1). After going to a 3-0 count, Mendoza took a pair of strikes before the payoff pitch was called ball four, giving Mendoza a run-scoring walk and lifting the Rockers to the 4-3 win.

That extra innings would be needed seemed a moot point after the Rockers went into the ninth inning up 3-1. But Gastonia’s Justin Wylie and Patrick Mazeika each hit solo homers off closer Tommy Doyle to tie the game and force the extra frame.

“They got to our bullpen a little bit tonight but when we needed it, Jonah was fantastic. He threw the ball really well,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe.

Gastonia was on the offensive attack right from the beginning. High Point starter Erich Ulemen allowed a leadoff double to Kevin Watson, Jr. then hit Richie Martin and Cole Roederer with consecutive pitches to load the bases. A walk to Wylie gave the Ghost Peppers a 1-0 lead before the Rockers had recorded an out. But a visit from pitching coach Frank Viola straightened out Ulemen who escaped the first without any further damage then allowed just one it over his next four innings.

“Sometimes a pitcher just needs to hear from his pitching coach,” said Keefe. “Frank knew what to tell him and after that, Erich was great.”

The Rockers erased Gastonia’s early lead with a run in the fourth coming on a double by Viera and an RBI single from D.J. Burt. High Point took the lead in the sixth when Aklinski singled, stole second and scored on Mendoza’s RBI double. The lead grew to 3-1 in the seventh when Aidan Brewer walked and eventually scored on an Aklinski single.

Mendoza finished the night with three hits and two RBI. Gastonia was led by Dalton Guthrie who had a pair of hits.

The Rockers are now 8-3 on the season and Gastonia falls to 4-7. The two play again at Truist Point on Thursday night at 6:35 before the weekend series shifts to Gastonia’s CaroMont Health Park.

NOTES: Cody Wilson singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games . . . After hitting at least one homer in each of the first nine games of the year, the Rockers were held without a round-tripper on Tuesday and again on Wednesday . . . Following Tuesday’s 14-8 loss to the Ghost Peppers, the Rockers are now 152-11 all-time when scoring eight or more runs in a game . . . The walk-off walk marked the first in the Rockers’ six-year history. It was their 31^st all-time walk-off win.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers swept a doubleheader from the Lexington Legends on Sunday afternoon in front of 2,034 fans at Truist Point, winning by scores of 5-0 and 3-1.

In the opener, Rockers starter Kent Emanuel (W, 1-0) went six innings and yielded just four hits while striking out two in earning his first win of the season. Center fielder Cody Wilson gave the Rockers all the runs they would need with a lead-off homer. High Point added two more runs in the first when Luis Gonzalez singled, move to third on an errant pickoff throw from Lexington starter Colton Eastman (L, 1-1), and scored on a wild pitch. Luke Napleton followed with a single and scored on a base hit by D.J. Burt.

High Point added a run in the third on a double by Ben Aklinski and an RBI single from Napleton. The hit was the 500^th of Aklinski’s career in the Atlantic League including his four seasons with the Rockers and the 2021 campaign with Lexington.

The Rockers final run came in the fifth when Aidan Brewer walked, moved to second on a Lexington error and scored on Aklinski’s sac fly.

Emanuel didn’t allow a baserunner to reach second base until the Legends loaded the bases in the fifth on a double, a single and a walk. But he was able to strike out Andy Atwood and got out of the inning on a tremendous defensive play by Drew Mendoza at third base.

High Point overcame a 1-0 deficit in the nightcap after Lexington’s Brian Fuentes homered in the first off Rockers starter Brandon Backman. The Rockers scored all three of their runs in the third off Lexington starter Tanner Tully (L, 0-2). Catcher Nolan Watson hit his first homer as a Rocker to start the frame before Aidan Brewer beat out a bunt hit. Wilson singled as did Aklinski to load the bases. Evan Edwards then delivered a two-run single to put the Rockers ahead for good at 3-1.

Backman went 3.2 innings before giving way to Matt Frisbee (W, 1-0) who allowed just one hit in his 1.1 innings of work. Tommy Doyle (S, 2) worked the final two innings, allowing a single hit with one strikeout.

The Rockers are now 7-2 and sit on top of the Atlantic League’s South Division by a full game over 6-3 Lexington.

The Rockers will enjoy an off day on Monday then return to action at 11:05 am on Tuesday against Gastonia.