BREVARD, N.C. - Second-ranked LaGrange blew past Brevard 15-3 on Sunday to complete a sweep of the USA South weekend series. The Panthers, with their fourth straight win, improved to 24-3 overall and 8-1 in the USA South.
McKinley Erves led the Panthers' 17-hit attack with four hits, including a double and a triple. He scored two runs to up his team-leading total to 48. Jack Layrisson had a double and a triple included in his three hits, while driving in four runs. He now has 41 RBIs, one behind team-leader Joe Ruth.
Brevard (16-13, 5-7 USA South) used a three-run third inning to take a 3-1 lead. In the fourth, Rhett Hebert doubled in Matt Eden and came home on Rhett Mixon's sacrifice bunt to tie the game.
The Panthers exploded for eight runs in the fifth inning, sending 13 batters to the plate. Ruth and Layrisson had two hits each in the inning. Ruth led off the inning with a single and scored the go-ahead run on Cael Chatham's RBI single. One out later, Hebert and Gabriel Pallo had back-to-back run-scoring singles. Mixon drove in the fourth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. Erves, Ruth, and Layrisson followed with a two-run triple and two run-scoring doubles to cap the inning and an 11-3 lead.
LC ended the game in the seventh on the 12-run rule with four more runs. The Panthers loaded the bases with no outs with two hits and a walk. Layrisson cleared the bases with a triple to left center and came home on Chatham's sacrifice fly scored Layrisson to make it 15-3.
Stephen Bartolotta (2-0) went four innings to get the win. He allowed three runs on six hits, walked one and struck out two. Jacob Brown threw three scoreless innings to pick up his second save of the season.
The Panthers play at Oglethorpe on Tuesday in a non-conference game.
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