The High Point University baseball team suffered a disappointing 5-4 loss to Dayton in the series opener between the two teams on Friday afternoon at First Horizon Park.

HPU dropped their fourth straight game to slip to 2-6 on the year while the Flyers picked up their first win of the year raising their tally to 1-3.

"I saw some sad faces," said HPU head coach Sal Bando, Jr. "I told the guys to keep their heads up because they have nothing to be ashamed of. The way we are playing the game now, we don't deserve to win. That's just the bottom line that we are not playing well at all. We're not pitching and we're not catching the ball. That's what wins ball games. The positive is that there is a lot of season left and it's a long season. I know we can play better and I know we will play better. I just hope it is sooner than later."

The Panthers got on the board first posting a run in the bottom of the opening frame. Jeff Cowan singled and moved to second when Chris Norwood was hit by a pitch. Sophomore catcher Billy Alvino singled through the left side plating Cowan.

Dayton struck for four runs in the second inning using just one hit. After setting down the first two batters, HPU starter Matt Christie gave up a single up the middle to Frank Tedesco then issued three consecutive walks followed by a hit batter allowing UD to take a 2-1 lead. Jamie Serber came on in relief for High Point and the first batter he faced dribbled a ball to the mound but Serber rushed the through to first allowing two more Flyer runs to score.

Freshman outfielder Pablo Rosario got a run back for the Panthers in the bottom of the second blasting his first career homerun over the right field fence trimming the HPU deficit to 4-2.

High Point knotted the game in the third scoring a pair of runs on back-to-back doubles by Norwood and Bill Manion and an RBI single from Matt Schlanger.

The two pitching staffs worked out of jams over the next several innings as neither team could push across a run. Both teams left double-digit runners stranded in the game with Dayton leaving 12 and High Point with 11.

Shawn Gizynski drew a leadoff walk in the seventh and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Scott Dunwoody. A wild pitch moved him to third. A walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases bringing HPU reliever Tom Boleska to the mound. Cole Tyrell drew an RBI walk to force in the game-winning run.

HPU had a runner on third in the eighth and a pair of runners aboard in the ninth but just could not get the timely hit.

Manion went 3-for-5 including a pair of doubles and an RBI to lead the Panther offense. Serber (0-1) took the hard luck loss after working five innings of relief allowing just two hits. Boleska worked the final 2.1 innings striking out four straight and holding the Flyers hitless.

Ryan Hill (1-0) earned the win with four innings of scoreless relief work. Lucas Farden pitched the last 1.1 innings for the save. The Flyers offense produced just four hits on the day but benefited from three HPU errors.

The Panthers and Flyers are slated to play the second game of their three-game set on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at First Horizon.