Kyle Mahoney and Bill Manion each homered and drove in four runs in powering the High Point University baseball team past Duke 10-2 Thursday afternoon at Coy O. Williard Stadium.

"Tonight was the most complete effort we have had so far this season," said head coach Craig Cozart.  "We played with an aggression and confidence that was great to see heading into the weekend.  This team continues to learn how to win ball games and we anticipate a great series this weekend with Winthrop."

Duke (6-2) scored the game's first and last run, but 10 runs in between was plenty for HPU to hand the Blue Devils their second loss of the year.  HPU starter Mike Caldwell got the leadoff hitter to foul out to first base before allowing an Alex Hassan double to left field.  Hassan scored on a single by Jeremy Gould.  A walk to Nate Freiman set up runners at first and second, but Caldwell worked out of the jam getting the next two hitters to flyout to center and strikeout, respectively.

The Panthers didn't stay behind for long as they answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.  Pablo Rosario started it off with a single up the box.  Alfie Wheeler executed a hit-and-run on the first pitch he saw, singling to right-center and advancing Rosario to third.  Wheeler was picked off, but HPU was able to pick up a run on a Manion groundout.  Just as it seemed Duke would escape the first inning allowing just the lone run, Mahoney hit laser out over the left-centerfield wall.

Some small ball paid dividends for High Point in the bottom of the third.  Wheeler began the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Manion grounded out to the right side allowing Wheeler to move up a base.  Mahoney then hit a sacrifice fly to rightfield, plating Wheeler and pushing the Panther lead to 3-1.

After a couple of scoreless innings for both sides, HPU scored seven runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.  In the sixth, Billy Alvino extended his hitting streak to 11-games with a double down the rightfield line.  He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Jeff Cowan sacrifice fly.  Rosario and Wheeler began the seventh with a hit-by-pitch and walk respectively.  Manion pushed a bunt to third and reached safely moving both runners up.  Mahoney delivered another big hit, this time a single into right-center.  Alvino capped off the scoring with a single, bringing in Manion and giving the Panthers a 7-3 lead after seven.

HPU scored quickly in the eighth, with all three runs scoring after the first three batters in the inning.  Rosario was hit by a pitch, but the home-plate umpire said he did not make an attempt to get out of the way.  On the very next pitch, Rosario laced a triple in the right-centerfield gap.  Wheeler followed him with a walk before Manion hit a blast off the scoreboard in rightfield to give High Point a 10-3 advantage heading into the ninth.

Duke scored an unearned run in the ninth inning when Ryan McCurdy plated Gabriel Saade.  Jeremy Berg worked the ninth frame and still has not allowed an earned run this season.  He currently leads the Big South conference with a 0.00 ERA. 

After allowing the early run, Caldwell worked six straight shutout innings, throwing seven total.  He gave up just six hits, while picking up three strikeouts and issued three walks.  The righty improved his record to 2-1 on the year.  Offensively, Rosario had three hits and scored three runs.  Alvino, Mahoney, Manion and Eric Marion all picked up two hits on the night.  Alvino has recorded five multi-hit games and leads the Big South with a .462 batting average.  Mahoney, Manion, Marion and Wheeler have all picked up a hit in six of the seven Panther games this season.

Trevor Cesar suffered the loss for Duke, dropping his record to 0-1.  He worked four innings, giving up three runs on four hits.  The Blue Devil Bullpen surrendered seven runs in the final four innings.  Hassan and Gould paced the offense with two hits each.

High Point begins a three game set with Big South rival Winthrop at Williard Stadium in the conference opener for both schools.  Winthrop comes into the contest with an overall record of 7-2.  First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.  Game two is slated for Saturday, March 7 at 2:00 p.m. with the series finale on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. start.