High Point led 6-4 before Charlotte scored the final seven runs of the game to rally and knock off the Panthers, 11-6, in the opener of a three-game series Friday afternoon at Tom and Lib Phillips Field in Charlotte.

Erik Walker (1-1) earned the win for the 49ers, while Clayton Gordner (0-2) took the loss in relief for the Panthers.

Charlotte improves to 7-4, while HPU drops to 3-14.

The 49ers held a 14-10 edge in hits. Thomas Bowker and Adam Willard each had three hits for the home team. Rey Rojas paced High Point with a 4-for-5 day at the plate, while Matt Calcagni had two hits for the Panthers.

High Point jumped on top with an early 4-0 lead with four runs on three hits in the second inning. The big blows were a leadoff home run to left by Chris Draska and Corey Stang's two-run double to left field off Charlotte starter Justin Brown.

Charlotte evened the score with four runs on three hits in the third inning off HPU starter Josh Cotten. Bowker scored the inning's first run on Willard's triple to right field, Kris Rochelle connected on a double to left field scoring Willard, Randall Poplin came across on a wild pitch, and Rochelle would score the inning's final run on Michael Roane's sacrifice fly to center field.

High Point regained the lead on Chris Ramirez's two-run single to right field in the sixth inning which scored Rojas and Calcagni for a 6-4 Panther advantage.

The 49ers cut High Point's lead in half on Poplin's sacrifice fly to center field scoring Bowker in their half of the sixth, and took the lead for good with three runs on three hits in the seventh inning. Brian Scafe scored the game-tying run on a High Point wild pitch and Cory Lane scored the eventual run on Bowker's sacrifice fly to right field.

The series continues Saturday and Sunday. Pitching matchups for the rest of the series are as follows:

Saturday, 2:00 pm (click here for live stats)
High Point: Matt Christie (0-2)
Charlotte: Justin Brown (1-0)

Sunday, 2:00 pm (click here for live stats)
High Point: Bob Helman (0-2)
Charlotte: Matt Landphair (3-0)