LaGrange crushed Piedmont 23-2 and 14-1 in the USA South Tournament First Round at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium on Saturday. The sweep carried the Panthers (22-7) into the tournament's championship series next weekend against either N.C. Wesleyan or William Peace.
LC set or tied a number of team and USA South Tournament records in the two blowout wins. The two wins extended the Panthers' winning streak to 14 games, tying the 2016 team for the longest streak during the NCAA era of the program. The Panthers have also won 14 straight USA South Tournament games, dating back to the 2017 season.
The Panthers hit a team and conference tournament record six home runs in Game 1 and added another in the second game. The Panthers' 28 home runs this season broke the mark of 27 set by the 2003 team, who played 46 games. LC also set conference tournament game records for runs (23), hits (29), and RBIs (23) in Game 1.
LC had 47 hits on the day. Senior designated hitter E.J. Churchich clubbed three home runs and had nine RBIs. Churchich started the day tied for fourth on the team in home runs and fifth in RBIs. He now leads the Panthers with 37 RBIs and is second on the team with six home runs.
Senior first baseman Trey Pearce went 8-for-12 with a home run and five RBIs. Pearce batted .384 with two home runs and 16 RBIs in the eight games against Piedmont. Junior outfielder Jack Layrisson had five hits, including two doubles and a home run, while scoring seven runs and driving in three more. Junior third baseman Joe Ruth had six hits, including a home run, and had five RBIs. Junior outfielder McKinley had six hits on the day and finished with a .484 batting average against the Lions this season.
Game 1
The Panthers scored at least 20 runs in a game for the first time since beating Adrian 20-1 in 2012. Churchich jump started the Panthers in the first inning with his first at-bat of the day. Churchich hit a long home run to center field off Peyton Irvin (8-3) with Ruth on board for a 2-0 lead. LC doubled its lead to 4-0 with two more runs in the second inning.
The Panthers sent 16 batters to the plate in the third inning, scoring 11 runs on 11 hits for a 15-0 lead. It was the third time this season the Panthers have had a double digit inning. Pearce had two hits and three RBIs in the inning. By the end of the inning, every Panther in the lineup had at least one hit and the team had 18 already.
LC used the long ball to score six of its next seven runs. Layrisson hit his fifth home run of the season into the trees over the right field fence in the fifth inning. Ruth and Cael Chatham went back-to-back over the same spot in center field in the sixth. Pearce led off the seventh with a home run to right. Churchich capped his game with a two-run blast in the ninth.
The Panthers had five players with four hits in the game: Churchich, Erves, Pearce, Ruth, and David Smigelski. Churchich had five RBIs and Pearce finished with four.
Baley Coleman (7-3) went six innings to get the win. He allowed an unearned run, walked two, and struck out five. Jeff Norman gave up a run in two innings of work, striking out four. Ethan Fry pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish the game.
Game 2
The Panthers pounded out 18 more hits off eight Piedmont pitchers to complete the sweep. Pearce had four more hits, while Rhett Hebert added three hits and three RBIs. Churchich had two hits, including his third home run of the day, and four RBIs.
LC built a 5-1 lead through three innings. Hebert had a two-run single in the third inning. The Panthers broke the game open with a five-run sixth. Chatham was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Churchich followed with a mammoth home run, clearing a tree over the left field fence. Ruth capped the inning with a two-run single. LC would add a run in the seventh, another in the eigth, and two more in the ninth.
Brett Caneega (2-0) got the win with three innings of scoreless relief. Caneega entered the game in the fifth with runners on first and third and no outs. He struck out the side to get out of the jam. Caneega came on for starter Dalton Brooks. Brooks surrendered an unearned run in four innings, walking four and striking out four. Tanner Chafin and Spencer Douches each threw a scoreless inning to finish the game.
