HIGH POINT, N.C. - Tom Burkett's third inning grand slam gave the CSU baseball team an early lead they would never surrender as the Bucs dropped the High Point Panthers 13-6 for their second Big South sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon at Williard Stadium in High Point, N.C.

Charleston Southern moves to 25-23 on the season and 12-9 in the conference. The 3-0 series win marks the Bucs fifth BSC series win of the season, as they previously swept Radford and defeated UNC Asheville, Gardner-Webb and Winthrop. It is also the first time since 2002 the program has recorded 12 Big South wins and 25 overall wins.

Senior pitcher Jesse Cadenhead gave up four runs and struck out five in 6.0 innings for his fourth win of the season (4-4). Corey Deighan pitched 3.0 innings in relief, giving up two runs off three hits and striking out two for his seventh save of the season. The two combined to walk just one batter.

Offensively, sophomore Alex Tomasovich also powered the Bucs with four hits, two runs and two RBI. Senior Brandon McKinney and redshirt junior Walt Quattlebaum were both 3-for-5, with McKinney driving home three runs and crossing home plate once himself. The Bucs once again out hit the Panthers 18-10.

Corey Swickle took the loss for the Panthers, giving up eight runs off of 11 hits and striking out five in 6.1 innings. Sal Pezzino was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, as was Preston Packrall. Steve Antolik recorded a two hits and a run while Murray White IV was 1-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.

After two scoreless innings, Burkett homered to left field to drive home Matt Still, McKinney and Brantley Meier and put the Bucs up 4-0 in the top of the third. The grand slam was Burkett's 23rd career home run, putting him in sole possession of fourth place on CSU's all-time home runs list.

Jaren Sustar doubled to left field to start the fifth inning, and was followed by a single by Quattlebaum. Tomasovich drove home Sustar with a single through the left side to add to the CSU advantage at 5-0. In the bottom of the inning, Packrall singled to center field to get on base and was brought home by a single from Pezzino to put HPU on the board down 5-1.

The Panthers started a comeback in the bottom of the sixth, with Antolik singling up the middle. White hit a two-run homer to left field, putting the score at 5-3. Robbie Gilles then hit a solo homer in the next at-bat, cutting the Panthers' deficit to just one at 5-4 before Kevin Mahoney Popped up to second base and Packrall grounded out to end the inning.

The Bucs would add four more runs to their tally in the top of the seventh inning. Quattlebaum walked and advanced when Derek Smith and Tomasovich hit back-to-back singles. Drew Dades came in to relieve Swickle and walked Matt Still with the bases loaded to score Quattlebaum. McKinney then drove home Smith, Tomasovich and Still with a double down the left field line, keeping the Bucs ahead 9-4.

CSU kept going with the hot bats in the eighth inning, adding four more runs to the tally. Smith singled to right field, and then stole second. Tomasovich singled to right center, bring Smith home for CSU's tenth run of the day. Still doubled to left field, allowing Tomasovich to cross home plate before Drew Woodall singled to center field to score Still and put the Bucs ahead by a score of 12-4. Woodall advanced to second on a High Point error before a single by Meier drove him home for a final tally of 13 CSU runs.

High Point added a run in both the eight and the ninth innings, with White scoring on a Packrall single to make it 13-5 in the eight. Pezzino crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly by Scott Glover, but it was too little, too late as Charleston Southern took the 13-6 win.

CSU will travel to Columbia on Wednesday for a match up with top-ranked South Carolina. The Buccaneers will face the No. 1 Gamecocks in a 7 p.m. contest at Carolina Stadium.