The High Point baseball team earned a split of a Sunday doubleheader at Furman taking the first game 9-4 before falling in the second contest 12-4.

High Point's record moved to 5-5 on the year with the split while the Paladins ended the weekend with a 1-3 mark for the season.

In game one of Sunday's doubleheader High Point erupted for 15 hits and Eammon Portice (1-1) surrendered only one earned run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings of work en route to the 9-4 victory.

The Panthers struck for four runs on six hits in the second inning off Paladin starter Mason Smith. Chris Marks' one-out RBI double got High Point on the board, and Dustin Holtzman, Jeff Cowan, and Chris Norwood followed with run scoring singles for a 4-0 lead.

Furman took advantage of a pair of High Point errors and a run scoring double by Campbell Lewis to slice the advantage to 4-3 in the third, but the Panthers answered with a three-run fourth to make it 7-3.  Norwood's two-out single to left field plated Holtzman, and a fielding error by Furman first baseman Will Stembridge allowed Norwood and Cowan to score.

After Furman made it 7-4 with a run in the fourth, High Point wrapped up its scoring with a two-run sixth, highlighted by Cowan's RBI double to right field.

Nolan Mulligan, who came on with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh, pitched out of the jam by striking out Andrew Greene and getting A.J. Davidiuk on a groundout.  The junior righthander worked the final 2 2/3 innings for his first save of the season.

Smith absorbed the loss, surrendering seven runs, including five earned, on 10 hits while striking out two and walking two over four innings.

Randy Schwartz and Holtzman paced High Point's attack with three hits each.

Joe Daysh belted a three-run home run and drove in five runs to lift Furman to a 12-5 win over High Point in game two of Sunday's twin-bill helping the Paladins earn their first win of the year.

Trailing 4-1, Furman got rallied with five runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by Andrew Greene's two-run double down the left field line and Daysh's RBI single, to take a 6-5 lead.  In the sixth the Paladins collected five hits and pushed across three runs before Daysh broke open the game with his two-out, three-run clout off High Point reliever Brandon Moore.

The Paladins totalled 17 hits in the contest to make a winner of starting pitcher Ryan Hodinka (1-0), who went six innings and allowed four earned runs on 10 hits and one walk while striking out two.

Ben Terry, Andrew Greene, Case Cassedy, and A.J. Davidiuk also collected two hits apiece for the Paladins.

High Point starting pitcher Tom Boleska (0-3) took the loss after yielding six runs on nine hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings.

Having completed their season-opening 10-game road swing, the Panthers will open the home portion of their 2006 slate on Tuesday when they play host to Triad-rival UNC Greensboro at 2:30 p.m. at George Erath Field.