Despite scoring eight runs in the ninth inning the High Point University baseball team was unable to top the visiting Appalachian State Mountaineers on Wednesday afternoon at Coy O. Williard Sr. Stadium in a 19-14 decision.

The two squads recorded 33 hits between them while both pitching staffs recorded 22 strikeouts and issued 15 walks in the combined.  With the loss, High Point slips to 3-7 on the season while ASU ups their record to 5-5 this year.

Five different players posted multi-hit performances for the Panthers led by three hits each from Jeff Cowan, Randy Schwartz and Max Fulginiti. Tucker Stobbe drove in five runs for HPU including a grand slam homer. Rand Smith paced the Mountaineer offense with four hits and four RBI.

Zach Scott (0-2) worked 5.2 innings for HPU in the loss allowing seven runs (five earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts. Adam Mills (2-0) picked up the win in relief for Appalachian State after allowing just one hit in 2.1 innings of work.

Appalachian State scored a pair of runs in each of the first three frames to take the early lead. A pair of first inning HPU errors aided the ASU cause in the first and second innings while Wes Hobson belted a two-run homer for their Mountaineers third inning tallies. High Point pushed across a run in the second.

The Panthers started to rally in the fourth as Schwartz smacked his third homer of the year cutting the deficit to 6-2. In the fifth, Cowan singled and moved to third on a double by Chris Norwood. Bill Manion was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Stobbe cleared them with his first homerun of the season to knot the score at 6-6.

ASU answered with 13 runs over the next three innings to grab a 19-6 advantage. The Mountaineers plated two in the sixth, six in the seventh and five in the eighth thanks to 11 hits.

High Point made a furious comeback attempt in their final at-bat sending 14 hitters to the plate in scoring eight runs on six hits. The first three hitters drew walks to load the bases. Robby Kuzdale singled to plate the first run of the rally followed by an RBI walk for Kyle Mahoney. HPU's next two runs came courtesy of a wild pitch and a passed ball that made the score 19-10. Pablo Rosario then drew a walk in front of an RBI single by Cowan. Manion loaded the bases with a one-out single and Stobbe followed with an RBI single to right in his second at-bat of the inning. Schwartz then pushed across a pair of runners with a single to center. The Panthers had the bases loaded with one-out before back-to-back strikeouts ended the game.

HPU next plays this weekend with a three-game series at Charlotte beginning on Friday at 4 p.m. The Panthers and 49ers will also meet on Saturday and Sunday with both games slated to start at Noon from Hayes Stadium.