After dodging rain showers most of the afternoon, the High Point Panthers broke open a 3-3 tie in the fourth inning and went on to claim an 8-4 victory over the Liberty Flames to close out the regular season on Sunday at Worthington Stadium.

The setback snapped a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) for Liberty, who finished the regular season at 14-7 in the Big South Conference and 31-24-1 overall. High Point upped its overall mark to 20-32 an finished at 9-12 in the conference standings. 

The contest, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., was moved up to a Noon start time, but steady rain in the Lynchburg area caused the start of the final game of the regular season to be pushed back several hours.

After waiting almost four hours for the skies to clear, the Panthers jumped on the scoreboard in the opening frame for a 1-0 advantage. Junior second baseman Jeff Cowan was hit by a pitch leading off the game and came around to plate the first run of the contest on an RBI double by third baseman Randy Schwartz.

Liberty knotted the game in the second inning at 1-1 with a run. David Giammaresi drew a walk to open the frame.  After advancing to second on a wild pitch, the Flames first baseman scored on a single to center field by Tim Rotola.

In the top of the third, High Point climbed back on top. Cowan began the inning with a single and scored ahead of center fielder Pablo Rosario's two-run home run.  The round tripper was his third of the year and gave the Panthers a 3-1 edge.

Liberty answered back in the bottom of the inning. Kenneth Negron led off the frame by slapping a single to center field and moved to second on a ground out.  After Negron moved to third on a wild pitch, he came home on another wild pitch. Two batters later, Garrett Young singled sharply to left field, plating Giammaresi, who had earlier walked, tying the game at 3-3.

The heavy rains returned halting play for another one hour and 22 minutes. After the stoppage of play, High Point pushed across two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-3 advantage.  With two outs, catcher Kyle Mahoney doubled to the wall in right-center field.  Shortstop Alfie Wheeler followed with a single through the middle to bring home the Panther catcher. Wheeler then stole second base and made it, 5-3 High Point, when Cowan laced a double off the wall in left field.

Liberty trimmed its deficit to 5-4 in the home half of the inning, striking for a run with two outs.  Negron singled to left field to keep the frame alive and scored on a double off the center field wall by Errol Hollinger.

The Panthers extended their advantage in the eighth.  With one out, Mahoney was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by Wheeler. Two batters later, Rosario delivered a bases clearing double giving High Point a 7-4 lead.

HPU tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Drew Geissinger, who had entered the contest as the designated hitter in the eighth inning, reaching the final margin of 8-4.

High Point hurler Zach Scott, who entered the game after the rain delay in the third inning, picked up the win to move to 2-5 on the season. Senior Bubba O'Donnell, the last of five Panther pitchers in the contest, recorded his eighth save with two innings of scoreless relief. Liberty reliever Brett Curll, the second of four Flames pitchers on the afternoon, took the loss falling to 0-1 on the year.

Five different Panther players finished the game with two hits including Rosario, who drove in four runs on the day. Negron paced all hitters in the game with three hits, scoring two runs for the Flames.

High Point opens play in the 2008 Big South Championship on Tuesday at 7 p.m., at Dan Daniel Park in Danville, Va., against UNC Asheville. HPU is the fifth-seed at the tournament while Asheville enters the match-up as the eighth-seed. The winner of the Panther-Bulldog contest advances into the six-team double-elimination bracket of the event.