The High Point Baseball team left 11 runners stranded and gave up seven runs in the final two innings in a disappointing 8-3 loss to Triad-rival North Carolina A&T on Tuesday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium.

The Panthers (18-18), who were playing their ninth consecutive road game, held a 2-0 lead through five innings before the Aggies (11-21) rallied for the victory.

Senior righthander Tony Flores gave High Point a solid outing on the mound allowing just two hits and only one run while striking out 10 in six innings of work. Flores twirled a no-hitter through the first five innings of the contest.

"It is disappointing that we wasted an excellent start by Flores," said HPU head coach Sal Bando, Jr. "Offensively we showed up physically but not mentally. As a team, we still have a lot to learn."

High Point scored a run in both the second and third innings to grab the early advantage. In the second, Chris Norwood reached on a bunt single and moved to second on a groundout before crossing the plate on an RBI single by Matt Schlanger. Alfie Wheeler and Robby Kuzdale posted back-to-back singles to open the third and advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Cowan. After Bill Manion was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Wheeler scored on one of A&T's four errors on the day.

The Aggies recorded their first hits of the game in the sixth using back-to-back singles to get a runner to third. A wild pitch allowed the A&T to trim their deficit to 2-1.

North Carolina A&T broke things open in the seventh plating six runs on five hits against a trio of HPU relievers. Chad Jennings (2-3) suffered the loss for the Panthers after giving up five runs on three hits in just 1/3 of an inning. The Aggies added an insurance run in the eighth to hold an 8-2 advantage.

HPU closed the scoring with a run of their own in the ninth. Randy Schwartz singled home Kuzdale, who had reached base on an error.

Six different players recorded a hit for High Point in the game. North Carolina A&T had a trio of batters post multi-hit performances. Jonathan Smith (1-1) picked up the victory for the Aggies after surrendering two runs on four hits over six innings.

After nearly three weeks away from home, High Point returns to Williard Stadium this weekend for a three-game set against Big South leading No. 19 ranked Coastal Carolina. HPU and CCU will open their series at 7 p.m. on Friday in the first home night game in the program's Division I history.