High Point rocked Liberty for five first-inning runs, but the host Flames rallied and scored the winning run in their last at bat for a 7-6 come-from-behind victory in Big South baseball action Saturday at Worthington Stadium.

Joshua Butcher scored Michael Just on a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for the game-winner.

Josh Doane's first-inning grand slam was the day's biggest highlight for the Panthers (5-24, 0-7 Big South). It came after Rey Rojas got things started with a lead-off single and scored when Chris Draska reached on an error. Doane's homer was the first of his college career and scored Draska, Corey Stang and Matt Keever for a 5-0 High Point advantage before the Flames had sent a batter to the plate.

The Flames (14-12, 2-2) scored their first run in the bottom of the third off HPU starter Josh Cotten when Phillip Laurent scored Patrick Gaillard on a single to cut the lead to 5-1. Liberty got within 5-2 in the fifth when Ryan Hutchinson came home on a single by Carlos Garcia. 

The Panthers answered in the top of the sixth with a run of their own as Doane came home on a double by Nate Hawley, extending the lead back to four, 6-2.

The Flames responded with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score at 6-6. Michael Garcia scored the first run on a groundout by Todd Sangid. Later in the inning, Laurent smacked a double to leftcenter, scoring Hutchinson and Jeremiah Boles. One batter later, Jeff Brown singled up the middle, bringing home Laurent with the tying run.

The score remained tied until the bottom of the ninth, when Just led off the inning for the Flames with a walk. Michael Garcia then laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt and reached on a High Point error, while Just moved to second base on the play. Rusty May moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt of his own, setting the stage Butcher's sac fly to deep  center field. Just tagged up at third to come home with the winning run.

Michael Schaeffer (2-0) got the win after a third of an inning of relief, while Mark Shorey (1-7) was saddled with the loss despite not allowing a hit or an earned run in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

Bob Helman (1-3) gets the start against the Flames' Jason Jones (2-3) on Sunday (2:00 pm), while the Monday finale features Matt Kniginyzky (1-3) and David Bechtold (3-3).