High Point's baseball team began the 2008 season with a win and a loss against Big Ten power Penn State at the Coy O. Williard, Sr. Baseball Stadium Saturday.

Senior Ryan Basham (0-1) got the call in game one, pitching three scoreless innings. In the Penn State side of the fourth, however, shortstop Landon Nakata led off with a double, and promptly stole third base. Joe Blackburn flew out to center, too deep for sophomore Robby Kuzdale to hurry the throw in. Mike Deese then led off the next inning with a home run to shallow left field.

In the Nittany Lion seventh, Rick Marlin led off with a two-base error on Jeff Cowan. Kelley singled, driving Marlin in from second. After a Lou Picconi sacrifice bunt, Scott Kelley was brought in on a Brian Ernst single. Starter Mike Wanamaker (1-0) left the game with a 4-0 lead after six innings.

Leading off the Panther seventh, Pablo Rosario doubled to deep right center. After a balk by Penn State reliever Paul Hawkins moved Rosario to third, Kuzdale grounded out to bring Rosario home.

With two outs in the High Point eighth, the Panthers benefited from three straight singles by Max Fulginiti, Alfie Wheeler, and Eric Marion. Marion's single down the right field line scored Fulginiti to narrow the score to 4-2.

Drew O'Neil - a preseason candidate for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation's best pitcher - then closed the ninth inning with three straight ground-outs up the middle.

After a half-hour intermission, the teams matched up again. This time, Matt Schlanger (1-0) took the mound for the Panthers, while Mike Lorentson (0-1) started for PSU.

High Point came out firing in game two, plating five runs in a four-error second inning. With the game still scoreless, Billy Alvino and Randy Schwartz led off with a single and a double, and Fulginiti walked to load the bases. Wheeler then grounded to shortstop Wes Borden, who threw a fielder's choice toss over third baseman Deese's head. Alvino and Schwartz scored the first two runs of the game.

Catcher Kyle Mahoney followed up with a no-out, two-RBI single down the right field line, which plated Fulginiti and Wheeler. After Mahoney was caught stealing, Rosario singled to center and Chris Norwood reached on a 1b error. Penn State's middle infielders failed to cover second during a Rosario-Norwood double-steal, and the ball sailed by both, ending up in center field; Rosario scored, and Norwood ended up on third.

In the High Point third, both Schwartz and Mahoney homered off of Lorentson. Norwood followed suit off of reliever Ryan Stobart in the bottom of the fourth.

Penn State's lone run came in the fifth inning, when an Ernst single brought in Marlin from second.

Schwartz, Fulginiti, and Wheeler led off the fifth with back-to-back-to-back singles, scoring Schwartz. After a Mahoney strikeout, a Rosario single plated Fulginiti and Wheeler to bring the tally to 11-1. The scoring continued in the bottom of the seventh, when Norwood drove in Mahoney and Kuzdale off of a single. The final run came when Drew Geissinger came home off of a Fulginiti groundout. That run came off of everyday left fielder Kelley, who came in to pitch after the game was well out of hand.

The 14 runs and 14 hits High Point had in game two were the most in each category since the team's win over Charleston Southern on May 12, 2007, when the team scored 18 runs on 16 hits. Penn State's 12-run loss was their largest since a March 13, 2007 loss at Kansas, when the Nittany Lions lost 18-5.

The two teams will compete in the rubber game tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Williard Stadium.