High Point pounded out 16 hits en route to their 7-3 win on Sunday afternoon giving the Panthers a weekend series sweep over Big South rival UNC Asheville at McCormick Field.

High Point (23-20, 9-6 Big South) claimed sole possession of third-place in the league standings after winning their fourth straight game. The Bulldogs (17-27, 7-8) entered the weekend in third but slipped to fifth after being swept.

HPU got on the board quickly in the first inning as lead-off hitter Robby Kuzdale hit his fourth home run of the season to give the Panthers a quick 1-0 lead. Singles from Jeff Cowan, Bill Manion and Randy Schwartz loaded the bases. Billy Alvino grounded into a double-play that scored Cowan. Chris Norwood followed with an RBI single to right that plated Manion for a 3-0 lead.

The Bulldogs came back with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Elliott Arrington who went 3-for-5 led the inning off with a double. He went to third on a Panther error. Cameron Duckworth earned a walk to load the bases. Catcher J.K. Whited grounded into a double-play to score Arrington for Asheville's first run of the game. Steve Burnich doubled to left-field to score Kyle Smith to cut the lead to 3-2.

Asheville knotted the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning. Matt Henson led off with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. One out later, Arrington singled in Henson.

The Panthers regained the lead with two runs in the sixth. Eric Marion led the inning off with a walk and quickly went to third on Pablo Rosario's double. Asheville pitcher Michael Bogaert (2-5) was called for a balk to put HPU in front, 4-3. A sacrifice fly from Alfie Wheeler stretched the Panther lead to 5-3.

High Point sealed the win with two insurance runs in the eighth. Norwood led off with a double. With runners on second and third and two outs, Kuzdale singled to left to score both runners and push the lead to 7-3. High Point scored eight runs in the eighth inning for the series.

At the plate, six HPU players recorded multi-hit performances on Sunday led by three hit performances from Cowan and Norwood. Kuzdale led the Panthers with three RBIs.

Zach Scott (3-1) picked up his second win of the weekend after working 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Bubba O'Donnell pitched the final 2.1 innings for his second save of the season. O'Donnell, who started for HPU on Saturday, went longer in his relief outing on Sunday than he did in his starting assignment.

The High Point bullpen was the story of the series. The Panther pen threw 14 innings allowing just two runs and did not allow Asheville to score past the sixth inning of any of the three games. The Panthers scored eight runs off the Bulldog pen in 9.2 innings putting the game away in the eighth of all three games.

The Panthers get a break from the road on Tuesday when HPU hosts Western Carolina at 2 p.m. at Coy O. Williard Sr. Stadium. High Point will then visit No. 2 North Carolina on Wednesday (6 p.m.) and Longwood on Thursday (7 p.m.) before enjoying a weekend off from competition.