The High Point University baseball mounted a late charge before dropping a hard fought 5-4 decision versus Liberty on Saturday evening at Worthington Stadium.

The loss moves the Panthers to 8-12 in the Big South and 19-32 overall while Liberty ups its season marks to 14-6 and 31-23-1. With the win, the Flames also secured the second seed at next week's Big South Conference Tournament.

Both teams threatened in the first inning without scoring. High Point second baseman Jeff Cowan was thrown out by Aaron Grijalva at the plate on a single to left field in the Panthers' first at bat.  In the bottom of the frame, Liberty loaded the bases with one out, only to have the threat ended on a double play.

The Flames pushed across the first run of the contest in the second inning.  Grijalva drove a double past the third base bag with one out and scored on a single to center by Tim Rotola for a 1-0 advantage.

Both starters, Liberty's Ryan Page and High Point's Corey Swickle, kept hitters off balance into the fifth inning.  Page retired nine consecutive Panther batters, while Swickle set down eight straight Flames hitters.

The Panthers took advantage of an error in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1.  Designated hitter Kyle Mahoney became the first High Point batter to reach base since the second, with a one-out double.  He then came around to score on a fielding error by Liberty shortstop Aaron Phillips.

In the bottom of the inning, the Flames answered with a two-out rally to take back the lead.  Kenneth Negron stopped Swickle's hitless stretch on the mound with a single to the left side with two down in the frame.  Errol Hollinger followed with a base hit. After Keller walked to load the bases, David Giammaresi lashed a single through the right side to drive in a pair of runners for a 3-1 lead.

HPU once again knotted the contest in the top of the sixth frame.  Cowan and Rosario reached on back-to-back singles to open the inning against Liberty reliever Andrew Wilson.  Two batters later, catcher Billy Alvino doubled to bring home Cowan.  Rosario then tied the game at 3-3, scoring on a ground out by right fielder Chris Norwood.

In the bottom of the inning, Liberty went back on top.  Garrett Young hit his fifth home run to lead off the frame and give the Flames a 4-3 advantage.  Grijalva followed with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rotola.  Two batters later, Negron lined a single through the left side of infield to plate Grijalva for a 5-3 Liberty edge.

High Point cut the margin to 5-4 in the seventh inning, but could not get any closer. Left fielder Max Fulginitti singled and moved to third on two wild pitches.  He then scored on a RBI single by Cowan.  Steven Evans came on in relief and preserved the Liberty victory.

Evans pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, after coming in with runners on first and second and one out in the seventh.  After an outstanding diving catch by P.K. Keller on a looping liner by the first batter the left-hander faced, he then struck out the next hitter with runners on the corners to end the threat.  Evans did not allow a base runner and retired all eight batters he faced. He struck out three in earning his third save of the year.

Jeremy Berg, the second of four High Point pitchers on the day, takes the loss, falling to 3-3.  He gave up two runs on five hits over two innings. For Liberty, Page allowed one unearned run over five innings of work, striking out four.  Wilson followed and picked up the win to run his record to 2-3 on the year.  The reliever yielded three runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings, before giving way to Evans. 

Cowan and Alvino collected two hits apiece for High Point to pace the Panther offense. Negron had three hits to lead all hitters in the game.

Liberty hosts High Point in the final contest of the regular season, Sunday afternoon at Worthington Stadium.  First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.