Dayton scored a pair of unearned runs in the ninth inning and got quality relief pitching from Luke Trubee to hold off High Point, 4-2, in the Panthers' 2004 home opener Friday afternoon at Erath Field.

The Panthers dip to 2-4 on the season, while the Flyers (1-0) notched a victory in their season opener.

Trubee (1-0) threw three innings of scoreless relief for the win, while Bob Helman (0-2) was the hard-luck loser for HPU.

Tied 2-2 in the top of the 9th inning, Helman retired the first two batters and was cruising along before Todd Beechem hit a grounder to short which Matt Calcagni fielded cleanly, but pulled HPU first baseman Corey Stang off the bag with his throw, allowing Beechem to reach base. Patrick Flynn followed with an infield single and Chad Liter drew a walk to load the bases.

Nick Zaio came in to face Kris Kemmer, but served up a wild pitch, allowing Beechem to score the eventual winning run. After Kemmer was intentionally walked to load the bases, Travis Motsinger took the ball from Zaio on the mound but delivered a base-on-balls to William Benoit, forcing in Flynn for a 4-2 Flyer advantage. Motsinger then got Brandon Godzik to fly out, but the damage was already done.

Trubee worked a 1-2-3 ninth for the victory and allowed just one hit in three innings in relief of starter Drew Chesebro while striking out a trio of Panthers.

Dayton jumped on the board first with two runs in the fourth off HPU starter Mark Shorey. Aaron Hepner's single scored Flynn to break the ice, and Joe McSoley's infield hit later in the inning plated Hepner to give the Flyers a 2-0 advantage.

The Panthers tied things up in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of their own. Chris Ramirez led off with a single before Stang was hit by a pitch and Josh Cotten came through with a base hit to load the bases with none out.

A Seby Renta sacrifice fly to center scored Ramirez, and after Matt Gorman was hit by another pitch, Josh Doane's sac fly to right scored Stang with the tying run.

Shorey struck out six Flyers in five innings of work while allowing just two runs. Chesebro scattered six hits over six innings while fanning four HPU hitters.

Renta led the way offensively for High Point with a 3-for-3 day at the plate. Flynn and Godzik each had a pair of hits for Dayton.

"I told the guys not to take this game out of context," said HPU head coach Sal Bando, Jr. "Of course we're trying to win here, but at the same time we're trying to figure out what works and what doesn't -- and who can perform in pressure situations. We're looking for guys who can make the most of the opportunities they've been given.

"A lot of jobs were won in the fall, but that's got to carry over into the spring. We hope to figure out where we're at by the start of league play."

The teams play again tomorrow at noon before Sunday's 1:00 pm finale. Admission is free.