Big East-leading Virginia Tech scored runs in seven of its eight at-bats and pounded out 20 hits en route to a 13-6 win over High Point on a sunny, blustery day at English Field.
The Panthers (24-28) have dropped four straight after winning five of six, and host Liberty to conclude the regular season this weekend.
John Cavanaugh's first-inning double extended his hitting streak to eight games, and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead when Ryan Thiede drove him home with a single to right off Hokie starter Pat Pinkman. But Tech got the run back in the bottom of the frame when lead-off hitter Chris Stanton singled and scored on a fielders' choice by Wyatt Toregas.
The Panthers reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs in the second after Kemp Smith doubled and scored on a single by Ken Keesee, who came home on a Chris Vinar single to give HPU a 3-1 advantage.
Virginia Tech (28-24) pulled within 3-2 in the bottom of the second when Brian Copeland reached on a two-out throwing error by HPU starter David White (3-7), moved to second, and then scored on a Stanton base hit.
The Hokies took their first lead of the game at 4-3 in the bottom of the third on a double by Jed English which scored Brad Bauder, and a two-out single by Spencer Harris which plated English.
Tech added another pair in the fourth, a single run in the fifth off Rusty Bodenheimer, who relieved White after 3 1/3 innings of work, and another pair in the sixth.
High Point came back with three in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 9-6. Vinar drew a bases-loaded walk to score Keesee, and Cavanaugh's second double of the game brought home Matt Richardson and Colin Cronin.
Virginia Tech added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth off Ryan Lurate, including Brad Bauder's three-run homer to left.
NOTES: Virginia Tech head coach Chuck Hartman coached at High Point for 19 seasons (1960-78), winning 10 Carolinas Conference titles and compiling a record of 483-225. He is the third-winningest coach in NCAA Division I baseball history (1,333 victories)... Pinkman picked off four High Point runners, all at first base... The Hokies now lead the all-time series between the schools, 14-5, although the Panthers did split with Tech last year, including a 10-7 win in Blacksburg.
