HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Gastonia Ghost Peppers scored a 5-0 victory over the High Point Rockers Friday night in the opening game of a three-game series in front of a crowd of 2,359 at Truist Point. Three Gastonia pitchers combined to hold the Rockers to just two hits on the night.

Gastonia’s Nick Horvath (W, 8-3) threw seven shutout innings, walking four and striking out 11 while allowing just a single hit in the second inning. The Rockers did not get another hit until the ninth inning.

High Point is now 25-36 in the second half and 54-70 on the year. Gastonia improved to 32-29 and 70-54.

Gastonia scored its first run in the second on a double by Chris Proctor and an RBI ground out by Chandler Seagle. The Ghost Peppers added three more runs in the fifth on a single by Wade Kelly, a run-scoring triple by Anthony Prato and RBI singles from Justin Wylie and Aaron McKeithan.

Sam Ryan (L, 2-5) went five innings for the Rockers, allowing four runs on nine hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.

Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. High Point’s Justin Dunn (0-2, 6.62) will square off against Gastonia’s Dylan Banner (3-1, 8.13),

Rocker fans can follow the action live on DugoutTV.org or the audio broadcast on the free app MixLR.