Senior Mark Shorey went 3-for-4 on the day including his second walk-off homer in the last four games to spark High Point to a 7-5 come-from-behind win over North Carolina A&T on Thursday afternoon at a soggy Erath Field.

Shorey, who also belted a game-winning homer on Sunday versus UNC Asheville, clobbered a 1-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth to untie a 5-5 game and record his Big South Conference leading 16th homer this year.

The victory gives the Panthers a season split with the Aggies and ups High Point's record to 22-24 overall. A&T falls to 16-29 on the year with the loss.

High Point was in complete control of the game over the opening six innings as sophomore starter Eammon Portice kept the Aggies off-guard with a mixture of hard fastballs and a big-breaking curveball. Portice allowed just five hits and three unearned runs in six and two-thirds innings of work. He struck out a career high 12 batters including striking out the side twice and retiring six consecutive batters on "Ks" over a three-inning span. Portice also struck out each of the nine starters for A&T once in the contest.

Both teams struggled at the plate in the opening two frames, before HPU finally got on the board in the third with a pair of runs. With one out in the inning, Jeff Cowan was plunked by a pitch and moved to second on a throwing error by Aggie catcher Neil Rosser on a pickoff attempt. Shorey drew a walk and then moved to second as Rosser again committed a throwing error while trying to catch Cowan stealing third. Cowan scored on the miscue putting High Point up 1-0. Randy Schwartz the followed with a single to score Shorey.

The game settled into a pitchers duel over the next few innings. High Point added a run in the sixth as Schwartz blasted his third homer of the season pushing the Panthers in front, 3-0.

North Carolina A&T sort of solved the riddle of Portice in the seventh inning. Patrick Oates led the frame off with a single and following a strikeout moved to second on a groundout. Rosser then drew a walk putting runners on first and second. Portice appeared to be out of the inning getting Phillip Brewington to swing a strike three but a passed ball on the play kept the inning alive and loaded the bases. Reliever Tom Boleska replaced Portice and gave up a bases clearing double to Nick Mayo on his second pitch. John Primus followed with a single to score Mayo that gave the Aggies a 4-3 lead.

HPU evened the count with a run in the bottom half of the seventh as Chris Norwood laced a two-out single up the middle and then stole second in front of an RBI-double from Shorey.

The Aggies regained the lead in the eighth with a single by Charlie Gamble and an RBI-double by Raul Santiago to set up the dramatic finish.

In the ninth, Alfie Wheeler recorded a one-out single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch by A&T reliever Michael Hauff. Following a flyout by Cowan, Norwood knotted the game at five with a run-scoring single. Shorey then came to the plate and delivered his game winner.

Along with Shorey's three-hit performance, HPU also got multi-hit outings from Norwood and Schwartz. Boleska 3-6) worked two and one-third innings to pick up the win.

Mayo led the Aggie offense going 2-for-5 on the day with three runs batted in. Santiago also finished with a pair of hits in the game. A&T starter Erik Neal allowed seven hits in seven innings of work with five strikeouts while Hauff took the loss giving up three runs in one and two-third innings.

High Point has the next nine days off from competition due to spring semester exams and graduation. The Panthers return to action on May 6-8 against Big South foes Birmingham-Southern in their final home conference series.