High Point pounded five home runs against the No. 5-ranked team in the nation, but came up on the short side of a 13-11 slugfest with Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Tuesday afternoon.

HPU drops to 17-19, while the Demon Deacons, who have won three of the last four ACC titles, improve to 29-6 on the season.

The Panthers used a four-run 2nd inning to jump on top of the powerful Deacs early. All four runs came with two outs. Kemp Smith singled off Wake starter Tim Morley, and came home on a double by Michael Lowman. Colin Cronin then drove Lowman in with another double to right center. After Justin Keegan drew a walk, John Cavanaugh cleared the bases with a triple to left to give HPU a 4-1 advantage.

But Wake came back with two unearned runs in the bottom of the frame off Kevin Burch (4-5) to cut the deficit to 4-3, and plated two in the 3rd to take a 5-4 lead.

Andy Harney's towering home run in the 5th (his 6th of the season) tied the score at 5-5. But the Deacons answered with a single run in the bottom of the inning and two in the 6th to take an 8-5 lead.

Keegan and Harney each blasted solo home runs off Wake reliever Adam Hanson in the top of the 7th to bring HPU within 8-7. And again, Wake answered, this time with a quartet of runs to increase its advantage to 12-7.

Matt O'Neil's pinch-hit two-run homer in the 8th scored Smith and cut the Deacons' lead to 12-9. Later in the inning, Cavanaugh crushed a two-run homer to left to pull HPU within 12-11.

Wake added a solo homer by Ryan Johnson off Phil Leake in the bottom of the 8th to complete the scoring.

Wake Forest leads the all-time series between the schools, 10-8. High Point split a pair of games with the Deacons in 2001.

High Point is back in action Wednesday night at UNC Greensboro. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 pm.