RALEIGH, N.C. - LaGrange came back from an extra inning loss to split their final USA South doubleheader with Meredith on Sunday. The Panthers won the second game 8-1 after falling 8-7 in the first game.
The split enabled the Panthers (15-15, 10-12 USA South) to clinch the final spot in the USA South Tournament. The Panthers will face top-seeded Ferrum on Friday, April 12 at 9 a.m. at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex in Rocky Mount, N.C.
Meredith came back three times to take the first game. The Avenging Angels scored twice in the seventh inning to tie the game 3-3 and force extra innings.
The Panthers came back with four runs in the top of the eighth to go up 7-3. But the Avenging Angels struck for five runs in their half of the inning to take the 8-7 win.
The Panthers had 12 hits in the game. Kelbi Burgering was 3-for-3 with an RBI, while Kalin Oglesby and Laura Webber had three hits also.
Webber and Courtney Beshel powered the Panthers in the second game to back up Dani Gravett's complete game pitching.
The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Danielle Newbern and Christy Flick had back-to-back RBI doubles in the inning.
The Panthers upped their lead in the fourth inning. Lindsey Hogan's two-run single pushed the lead to 4-1.
Beshel and Webber helped break the game open in the fifth inning. Gravett had a base hit and Beshel followed with her team-leading fourth home run. After a single by Flick, Webber hit her first home run of the season to make it 8-1.
Gravett went the distance to even her record at 6-6. She scattered eight hits, walked three and struck out 10.
The Panthers play at Agnes Scott in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday.
