High Point and UNC Asheville split a Big South Conference-opening doubleheader at Erath Field Friday afternoon.

The Panthers took Game 1 in dramatic fashion, 3-2, in 12 innings, while the Bulldogs rallied to take the nightcap, 4-2.

High Point stands at 14-12 on the season, while UNCA ended the day with a 7-8 overall record. Both teams are 1-1 in Big South Conference play.

In Game 1, High Point trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the 12th before Matt O'Neil ripped a base hit down the rightfield line, scoring John Cavanaugh and Ryan Thiede to give the Panthers a come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

UNCA had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the inning on a single by Matt Roberts that scored Israel Victor.

Cavanaugh hit his first home run of the season in the 3rd to give HPU a 1-0 lead.

Chris Chandler (3-1) got the win in relief, while Aaron Rembert (1-1) took the loss for Asheville, which left a whopping 19 runners on base.

In the second game, UNCA erased a 1-0 Panther lead with three runs in the 3rd. HPU starter Kevin Burch (4-4) surrendered a pair of walks before Ryan Cummins scored on a single by Denver Edick, and Jake McConiga and Edick scored on a double by Bill Carley.

HPU got within a run in the bottom of the inning when Cavanaugh scored on a groundout by Andy Harney.

Steven Cook (2-1) allowed one earned run in 5 1/3 innings for the Bulldogs. Jason Walker threw  12/3 innings of scoreless relief for his second save of the year.

The teams meet in the rubber game of the series Saturday at 1:00 pm at Erath Field. Riley Gostisha (4-2, 4.75) gets the ball for the Panthers against UNCA's Mark Schuurman (1-2, 10.50).