The High Point baseball team held an early lead over No. 1 North Carolina but a trio of Tar Heel homers allowed them to escape with a 7-3 win over the visiting Panthers Wednesday night at a rain-soaked Boshamer Stadium.

The loss snapped a two-game win streak for HPU dropping their season mark to 21-24. The Tar Heels improved to 36-8 including an impressive 30-3 mark in Chapel Hill.

High Point starter Chris Marks (5-4) took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits and one walk in 5.1 innings. Third baseman Jeff Cowan, first baseman Randy Schwartz and left fielder Matt Gantner each had two hits for the Panthers.

Right-hander Tyler Trice (1-0) picked up his first career victory with two innings of solid relief. He allowed one unearned run on three hits and one walk. The Tar Heels also got strong relief outings from Matt Danford, who worked two shutout frames, and Jonathan Hovis, who retired six of the seven batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings. Sophomore Mike Facchinei worked a scoreless ninth.

The Panthers scored two early runs off Carolina starter Adam Warren, who lasted two-plus innings and gave up three hits and three walks. In the first, Chris Norwood doubled in his first at-bat and then later scored on a Schwartz RBI-single. High Point plated its second run in the third when Norwood and Mark Shorey both drew walks and moved up a base on a wild pitch in front of a sacrifice fly by J. Williams.

The Tar Heels went hitless until the third and found themselves in an early 2-0 deficit before right fielder Matt Spencer started a scoring rally with a one-out single to right. Marks then hit Chad Flack and balked both runners into scoring position for Josh Horton, who laced a double to right center to the tie game at two.

Jay Cox led off the fourth with the solo home run, his team-best ninth of the season, to give Carolina its first lead of the night at 3-2.

High Point tied the game in the sixth on an RBI single by Cowan off Trice. Gantner singled and reached second when Horton booted a potential inning-ending double play ball. Cowan followed with his second hit of the night, a single through the right side to knot the score at three.

Leading off the bottom of the inning, Horton atoned for his fielding miscue with a homer to right center to put the Tar Heels in front to stay at 4-3.

In the eighth, Horton reached on a fielder's choice and catcher Tim Federowicz drew a walk before Benji Johnson's pinch hit homer to right center provided the Tar Heels with some insurance runs heading into the ninth.

High Point returns home to face Triad-rival North Carolina A&T at 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon at Erath Field. The game will be the Panthers last before a week-long break due to upcoming final exams at HPU.