By Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – No. 2/3 LaGrange (2-1, 0-0 CCS) surrendered the lead early, pulled ahead in the fourth and put it away with three runs in the eighth as they notched a 7-3 victory over Millsaps (2-4, 0-0 SAA) in an NCAA Division III baseball game on Sunday, February 19.
While each team would have hits over the first two innings, neither would be able to make them amount to much. The top of the third would see that change as Jackson Ware got hit, moved to second on a groundout and third on a wild pitch. Chris Hart then laced a single to center to score him and give the Majors a 1-0 lead.
The Panthers would respond in force in the third, however, as junior catcher Jared Aldridge (Carrollton, Ga.) mirrored Ware as he got hit to lead off that frame and then went all the way to third on an errant throw on a pickoff attempt. He would then come home on a fielder's choice by sophomore outfielder Jorge Fragoso and three more errors in the inning and a wild pitch would then lead to two more runs for a 3-1 lead.
They would then tack on another run the following inning as senior third baseman Joe Ruth (Chiefland, Fla.) delivered a leadoff single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and came home on an Aldridge sacrifice fly.
It would remain a three-run margin over the next two innings but not for lack of trying on LaGrange's part in the seventh. Back-to-back one-out singles and a two-out walk by Aldridge loaded the bases before a fly out ended the threat without a run crossing the plate.
The eighth would see Millsaps find their offense – after another leadoff hit by pitch. Following the first out, two singles with a fielder's choice sandwiched in between netted a run as Austin Arceneaux narrowed the gap to 4-2. After a pitching change Case Page singled through the left side to score Bradley Pelle but they would get no closer.
The Panthers made sure of that in the home half of the inning as they pushed across three runs behind four hits to extend to the eventual 7-3 final margin. Fragoso would score from third on a wild pitch, freshman second baseman Jackson McElvy (Kennesaw, Ga.) singled home junior outfielder Gabriel Pallo (Melbourne, Fla.) and senior outfielder Rhett Mixon (Loganville, Ga.) poked one to center to score McElvy. From there LaGrange would go on to close out the four-run victory the following half inning.
The Majors would manage just five hits and no player would have more than one while Hart, Arceneaux and Page each had an RBI. Ryan Laiche threw the first five innings and surrendered four runs but only one earned to suffer the loss and fall to 0-2.
McElvy led the way for the Panthers with two RBIs and a run as part of a 2-for-4 day while Mixon was 2-for-5 with an RBI and Ruth went 3-for-4. Aldridge added an RBI to round out the top offensive performances and junior pitcher Ethan Fry (Kennesaw, Ga.) hurled six innings of one hit ball, striking out a whopping 10 batters to pick up the win and improve to 1-0.
UP NEXT
LaGrange wastes no time as they jump right back into action with a midweek meeting with Emory at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium. First pitch for the home opener is slated for 7 p.m. under the lights.
