LaGrange opened the USA South portion of its schedule with a 7-1 win over N.C. Wesleyan on Saturday in Cleaveland Field at Williamson Stadium. The Panthers upped their record to 3-4, while the Bishops are now 2-5.
Senior pitcher J.R. Robinson allowed only an unearned run over 7-1/3 innings and lowered his earned run average to 0.48. Robinson scattered six hits, walked one, and struck out six. Cal Fuller got the final two out of the eighth inning. Freshman Will Queen struck out the side in the ninth in his first collegiate appearance.
Cael Chatham, McKinley Earves, and Trey Pearce each had two hits as the Panthers finished with 10 in the game. Dawson Weaver had the only extra base hit in the game with a double in the eighth inning.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Dylan Patrick (0-2). Rhett Mixon was hit by a pitch and Erves walked to start the inning. Both runners moved up on Joe Ruth's sacrifice bunt. Mixon tagged and scored on Jack Layrisson's fly out to shallow center for the first run of the game.
LC increased it's lead to 3-0 with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth. Layrisson, who had a lead off walk, came home on Chatham's bunt in the fourth. In the fifth, Erves reached on a two-out error and came around to score on Ruth's infield hit to deep short.
The Panthers closed out their scoring with two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh. E.J. Churchich dropped a one-out single down the right field line to drive in Chatham and Pearce to make it 5-0. Erves and Pearce had RBI singles in the seventh as the Panthers padded their lead to 7-0.
The two teams play a doubleheader Sunday beginning at 11 a.m.
