High Point opened 2005 by scoring four runs in the first two innings against the No. 2-ranked team in the country, but Miami came back and broke open a close game late for a 12-5 win over the Panthers Friday night in Coral Gables.

The Panthers out-hit the powerful Hurricanes by a 10-9 count, but four HPU defensive miscues led to five unearned Miami runs. Chris Ramirez went 3-for-4 at the plate for High Point.

Ricky Orta picked up the win in relief for Miami, while Rob Bland took the loss for HPU.
 
The Panthers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning after a bases-loaded RBI single to left field from Mark Shorey. Josh Doane led off the inning with an infield single, moved to third on a single by Ramirez and scored on Shorey's base hit.

Miami took the lead, 3-1, in the bottom of the first inning after scoring two runs on two consecutive wild pitches. The Hurricanes tied the game with a Ryan Braun sacrifice fly scoring lead-off hitter Walter Diaz. Paco Figueroa and Jon Jay scored on consecutive wild pitches from Bland, who allowed three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work.

High Point (0-1) answered with three runs in the top of the second. Ro Castro reached first on an error and stole second and third before Matt Christie drove him home on a fielder's choice. The Panthers tied the game at 3-3 two batters later on a double by Doane. Ramirez dropped a double in front of a diving Brendan Katin to score Doane for a 4-3 lead.

Braun's second sacrifice fly of the game in the bottom half of the third drove in Figueroa and tied the game at 4-4.

Miami (2-0) took control of the game in the fifth inning. With one out and the bases loaded, Katin found a hole in the middle of the High Point defense and drove in Diaz and Braun for a 6-4 lead. High Point managed a run in the top half of the sixth to come within 6-5, but it was as close as the Panthers would get.

Figueroa led off the Miami half of the seventh with a triple and was driven home on a line-drive single to left field by Braun for an 8-5 lead. Braun stole second and advanced to third before being driven home by Tomas on a fielder's choice. Jon Jay scored on a wild pitch by Matt Schlanger for a 10-5 lead. Miami added two more runs on an RBI single by Danny Valencia, who would finish the scoring when he crossed the plate on a throwing error.

Orta struck out two in 2.1 innings of relief to pick up his first win of the season.

For HPU, Doane went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored twice, while Christie drove in a pair of runs. Brandon Moore struck out three Canes in 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The two teams continue their series with a 7:00 pm contest Saturday and the 1:00 pm series finale Sunday. Click here for live stats.