High Point scored five runs in the fourth inning en route to an 8-1 victory over Radford in the Big South Conference series opener between the two squads on Friday night in front of a standing room only crowd at Williard Stadium.

With the win the Panthers improved to 15-22 overall and 7-6 in the Big South and posted their sixth consecutive home victory. The crowd of 730 marked the highest attendance for a game in the recently renovated stadium. Radford dropped their 11th straight game and fell to 15-21 on the year and 2-8 in League play.

High Point starter Ryan Basham led a strong performance on the mound for the Panther pitching staff. Basham (2-4) earned the win after allowing one run on five hits in 6.1 innings of work with five strikeouts and no walks. Jeremy Berg and Corey Swickle combined to surrender just one more hit over the final 2.2 innings. Four of the five outs recorded by Berg came via strikeouts.

Eric Evans (2-4) suffered the loss for Radford giving up seven runs, only two of which were earned, on six hits over 6.1 innings. Tim Hull pitched the final four outs for the Highlanders.

At the plate, seven different Panthers recorded hits led by two each from Matt Gantner and Alfie Wheeler. Max Fulginiti drove in three runs and Randy Schwartz plated two in the victory. Alex Gregory accounted for the Highlanders only run of the game and Nick Minter went 2-for-2 to pace the RU offense.

The Highlanders seemed to get off to a quick start when leadoff batter Tyren Rivers appeared to triple to the gap in right center, but was ruled out on appeal for missing first base. In the third, the Highlanders attempted to score from third on a bunt but Basham charged the play and flipped a backhanded toss to the plate to catch the runner.

Gregory led off the Radford fourth with his 10th homerun of the season giving RU a 1-0 advantage.

High Point struck back with five runs in the bottom of the inning, including four with two outs, to grab a 5-1 lead. Chris Norwood led of with a single and moved to third as Billy Alvino's grounder to third was thrown past the RU second baseman in an attempt to get the force out. After getting a strikeout, Radford starter Eric Evans uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Norwood to score and Alvino move to second. Schwartz walked and Drew Geissinger followed with a fielder's choice that erased Alvino at third. After Wheeler walked the bases loaded, Fulginiti cleared the bases with a slicing double down the leftfield line. Kyle Mahoney added an RBI double down the right field line to drive in the final run of the inning.

The Panthers extended their lead to 8-1 with three runs in the seventh inning. Mahoney drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a throwing error and Schwartz doubled home a pair of runners for the final margin.

High Point and Radford continue their weekend series on Saturday at 7 p.m. Prior to the game, HPU will recognize former head coach Chuck Hartman in a pregame ceremony starting at 6:30. Hartman, an American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, coached at High Point from 1960-78 and is the winningest coach in program history with 483 wins.