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The High Point University baseball team dropped the third and final game of its weekend series at Mercer by a score of 4-3 on Sunday afternoon in Macon, Ga. Junior Spencer Angelis led the Panthers, going 3-4 at the plate with two runs scored.

"You have to give credit Mercer, they are a veteran club that expects to win and this is a difficult place to come and play," head coach Craig Cozart said. "I was pleased with our pitching this weekend, I feel like we got some very good showings out of guys we weren't sure about. When you leave 28 guys on base over a weekend that doesn't bode well for the offense. We are going to get back to work when we get back to campus. This team has a chance to be tremendous we just have to get there."

Freshman Andre Scrubb took the loss for HPU in his collegiate debut. Scrubb pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three.

Eric Nyquist picked up the win on the mound for Mercer. The junior pitched 5-2/3 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks while striking out four. Ben Lumsden earned the save for Mercer with 1-1/3 scoreless innings of relief.

The sweep by Mercer in the opening-weekend series drops HPU down to 0-3 on the season.

Mercer took a 2-0 lead through three innings with both RBI going to Nick Backlund. The Mercer first baseman hit a solo home run in the first inning and drove in a runner from third in the bottom of the third with an infield single up the middle.

The Panthers got on the board in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by junior Cody Manzella to score Angelis. The HPU first baseman reached with a leadoff single and moved to third on a groundout and a single by junior Tony Fortier-Bensen before scoring High Point's first run of the game.

Mercer responded in the bottom half of the fourth with a two-run home run by Sasha LaGarde to go ahead 4-1. Michael Massi reached ahead of LaGarde on a fielder's choice and came around to score on the home run.

The score remained 4-1 until the top of the eighth when High Point pushed across two runs to pull within one at 4-3. The Panthers loaded the bases on singles by Angelis and Fortier-Benson and an error by the Mercer third baseman on a liner by Manzella.

Pinch hitters Chris Clare and Blake Hutton followed and hit back-to-back singles through the infield to drive in Angelis and Fortier-Bensen. High Point could not find the tying run in the frame though as freshman Josh Greene struck out and junior Josh Spano popped out to third in foul territory, ending the threat and leaving the bases loaded.

Junior Conor Lourey, freshman Jeremy Johnson and senior John Maloney combined to hold Mercer scoreless over the final three innings. Maloney pitched the final two innings for HPU and allowed just one walk while striking out three.

Fortier-Bensen joined Angelis as the only two High Point hitters to record multiple hits on Sunday. The shortstop went 2-3 at the plate with one run scored. Manzella, Clare and Hutton each picked up an RBI for the Panthers.

Backlund led Mercer on the day, going 2-4 at the plate with two RBI and one run scored. LaGarde finished 1-4 for two RBI and one run scored.

High Point moves on to face Charlotte in the Panthers' home opener on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 4 p.m. The game kicks off a five-game home stand for HPU. The Panthers lost both games in a home-and-home series against Charlotte last season. High Point fell at home by a score of 12-3 and lost 3-2 in 12 innings in Charlotte.