Sixth-ranked Birmingham-Southern edged LaGrange 8-5 at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium on Tuesday. It was the first loss of the season for the Panthers, now 6-1.
Birmingham-Southern (3-1) led 5-1 after a three-run fifth inning. The Panthers came back with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning. The two teams combined for 11 errors in the game.
LC tied the game in the seventh inning. Back-to-back hits by James Poropatic and Tavin Thompson, followed by a walk to Casey Bell loaded the bases with no outs. Blake Butcher, who had three hits, drove in Poropatic with a base hit. Thompson and Bell came around to score to tie the game when Cain Sauls reached on a throwing error.
The game remained tied until the ninth. The visiting Panthers took advantage of three errors by LC in the inning. The first two led to the go-ahead run and Sam Roberts finished the scoring with a two-run home run off reliever Jonathan Fleckenstein (2-1).
Andrew Weekley started and allowed two runs in three innings. Dax Willingham surrendered three runs in 1-2/3 innings. Austin Brown threw 2-1/3 scoreless innings followed by Fleckenstein.
The Panthers travel to Jackson, Mississippi for three games this weekend at Millsaps College. They will face Rhodes and Fontbonne (Mo.) on Saturday, then the University of Dallas on Sunday . LC beat Rhodes 7-6 at last weekend's Firehouse Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.
