MARYVILLE, Tenn. - LaGrange pushed across the winning run in the eighth inning to beat Maryville 6-5 in a USA South game Saturday. The win evened the weekend series for the Panthers, now 14-15 overall and 12-10 in the USA South.
Doug Scherer went eight innings to raise his record to 6-2. He allowed the five runs on 11 hits, walked one and struck out two.
Tyler Brooks pitched a perfect ninth inning to get his team-leading fourth save.
The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead with three runs in the third inning and another run in the fourth.
Brandon Espinosa led off the third with a double down the left field line. He came around to score on Josh Shiver's RBI single.
The Panthers added two more runs in the inning with the help of two Maryville errors. Shiver scored on the first error and Brent Kinsey came home on the second error as Jon Brock stole second to make it 3-0.
In the fourth inning, Kyle Nerbonne led off with a single. He moved over to third on an errant pick off throw and a ground out. Shiver drove in Nerbonne with a double to right center to up the Panthers' lead to 4-0.
The Scots answered with four runs in their half of the fourth. Jesse Crisp tied the game with a three-run home run off Scherer. The Scots took a 5-4 lead with another run in the fifth.
The Panthers tied the game in the seventh inning. Kinsey led off the inning with a single. He moved up on a wild pitch and scored after Brock and Cody Muren had back-to-back hits.
In the eighth inning, the Panthers took the lead for good. They loaded the bases with one out and Kinsey drove in Espinosa, who had started the inning with a single, with a sacrifice fly for a 6-5 lead.
Scherer allowed a two-out hit in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Nerbonne threw out the runner attempting to steal second to end the inning.
Brooks came on for Scherer in the ninth inning. He retired the Scots in order, striking out two in the inning, to clinch the win.
The two teams conclude their series Sunday at 1 p.m.
