FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - LaGrange bounced back from a heart-breaking first game loss to split a USA South doubleheader against Methodist. The Panthers won the second game 10-1 after losing 6-5 in 10 innings in the first game.
Kayla Folds (6-5) pitched a complete game for the Panthers in the 10-1 win. She scattered seven hits, walked one and struck out five.
Jordan Conner, Christy Flick and Lindsey Hogan all had two hits in the second game. Hogan scored twice and drove in two runs while Flick scored three runs. Conner had an RBI and scored a run. The Panthers had nine hits total in the game.
Leading 2-0, the Panthers broke the game open with five runs in the fourth inning. Flick led off the inning with a triple and after a walk to Laura Webber, scored on Conner's base hit. Hogan drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the second run. Kalin Oglesby drove in a run with an infield hit and Dani Gravett finished the inning with a two-run single to make it 7-0.
In the sixth inning, Hogan led off with a single to center field. She moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt by Oglesby and a wild pitch. Courtney Beshel drove in Hogan with a fly out to center field for an 8-0 lead.
The Panthers closed out the scoring in the game with two runs in the seventh inning. They loaded the bases on base hits by Flick and Connor sandwiched around a walk to Webber. Flick came home on a ground out and Hogan's RBI single scored Webber for the 10-1 final.
Kara Patterson started on the mound for the Panthers in the second game. She allowed three first inning runs before giving way to Cheyenne Pruitt. Pruitt pitched 4-1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
The Panthers came back with two runs in the third inning and two more in the seventh to go up 4-3. Danielle Newbern had a two-run two-out single in the third. In the seventh, Beshel scored on a wild pitch to tie the game and Flick followed with a run-scoring single to make it 4-3.
The Monarchs forced extra innings with a run in their half of the seventh. The two teams swapped runs in the eighth inning. The Monarchs pushed across the winning run in the 10th off Folds, who pitched the final 2-1/3 innings to get the hard-luck loss.
The Panthers play at William Peace and Meredith in USA South doubleheaders next Saturday and Sunday.
