LaGrange swept a USA South doubleheader from Huntingdon on Saturday at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium. The 10th-ranked Panthers won 8-4 and 6-3 to also complete a three-game sweep of the Hawks.
LaGrange (18-2, 8-1 USA South) got outstanding relief pitching from junior Jonathan Fleckenstein and sophomore Austin Brown. Both pitchers threw three scoreless innings in picking up their first saves of the season. They held Huntingdon (4-14, 2-4 USA South) to three hits in the six total innings, while not walking a batter and striking out four.
The Panthers came from two runs down twice to win the first game. They wiped out a 4-2 deficit with a three-run fifth inning to take the lead for good. LC took advantage of two errors in the inning and got a two-out RBI triple from Blake Butcher to drive in the go-ahead run.
LaGrange added an RBI single from Tavin Thompson in the sixth to go up 6-4. Cain Sauls and Chad Pigg added run-scoring base hits in the seventh to make it 8-4.
The Panthers finished with 10 hits after being held to three through the first five innings. Casey Bell had a double included in his two hits, while James Poropatic also had a pair of hits.
LC completed the sweep with a soggy 6-3 win in Game 2. The game was played in rainy conditions over the last five innings, with a 45-minute rain delay included.
The Panthers put together a four-run fourth inning to go up 5-0. They loaded the bases with no outs. Poropatic's sacrifice fly scored Blane Swift with the first run. Thompson followed with a two-run single and later scored on Casey Bell's two-out base hit.
Huntingdon came back with three runs off starter Josh Smith to make it 5-3. After the rain delay, Brown relieved Smith and closed out the win.
The Panthers had 12 hits in the game. Thompson finished with three hits, including a triple, scored two runs and drove in two runs. Swift, Butcher and Joe Pradat all had two hits.
The Panthers host Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.) on Thursday at 2 p.m.
