Weiss fans 12, Rockers offense explodes

WALDORF, Md. – High Point’s Ryan Weiss tied the club record for strikeouts in a game and the Rockers bats erupted for seven runs in the third inning as High Point defeated Southern Maryland 8-1 on Wednesday night at Regency Furniture Stadium.

Weiss (W, 1-1) struck out 12 Blue Crab hitters, tying a mark set by Edwin Carl and Michael Bowden during the Rockers’ inaugural season in 2019. Weiss fanned two batters in each of the first three innings, struck out the side in the fourth and added two more strikeouts in the fifth. He whiffed Michael Wielansky leading off the sixth for his record-tying 12th strikeout.

The Rockers held a 1-0 lead heading into the third inning. Colin Moran blasted a double off the wall in centerfield to lead-off the top of the second. He scored on a broken bat single to left by Jake Washer to give the Rockers a 1-0 lead.

In the third, High Point tallied seven times to take an 8-0 lead. Martin Figueroa drew a lead-off walk, stole second, and scored on a single to right by Connor Owings. Nick Longhi followed with a single before Southern Maryland starter Shawn Semple (L, 0-2) walked Moran to load the bases. Zander Wiel singled to plate two more runs, the second being the 200th of Wiel’s High Point career. Jake Washer then doubled to score Moran and Wiel and give the Rockers a 6-0 lead. The lead grew to 8-0 when Clayton Mehlbauer homered to score Washer ahead of him and finish off a seven-run outburst.

Weiss finished with 5.1 innings of work, allowing just two hits and one run while walking four. The lone run Weiss allowed was unearned.

The Rockers added a run in the ninth when Owings walked, moved to second on a single by newly acquired Cayman Richardson and scored on an infield ground out by Washer.

High Point’s pitching staff combined to allow just three hits while striking out a season-high 17. Ben Aklinski, Moran, Weil and Washer all had two hits for the Rockers. Wiel and Mehlbauer each drove in two runs while Washer drove home three.

Game three of the series is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. start on Thursday night at Regency Furniture Stadium.

NOTES: Wiel is High Point’s all-time leader in RBI, having driven in the 199th and 200th of his career tonight… The Rockers signed former University of Virginia utility player Cayman Richardson on Tuesday. He made his first appearance as a Rocker on Wednesday and collected a base-hit… The 17 strikeouts by the Rockers staff ties for the second-most in a game. High Point fanned 17 Blue Crabs in a 2019 game and set the record of 18 strikeouts in a game vs. York, also in 2019.