DEMOREST, Ga. - LaGrange finished its USA South schedule with 6-3 and 6-2 losses to conference-leading Piedmont on Saturday.
The Panthers are 13-18 overall and 6-14 in conference play. The Lions improved to 27-10 on the season and 15-3 in the conference.
Dani Gravett (8-7) started and took the loss in the first game. She allowed four runs in three innings. Emily Cauldwell went the final three innings, giving up a pair of runs on three hits.
Trailing 5-0, the Panthers got back in the game with a three-run fifth inning. They loaded the bases with no outs. Brooke Turner reached on an infield hit to drive in the first run. Grayson West walked to force in another run. Adrienne Little reached on a fielder's choice as Alison Jiles scored the third run of the inning.
Piedmont came back with an insurance run in the sixth for the 6-3 final.
The first three batters in the lineup had seven of the Panthers' nine hits. Kalin Oglesby had three hits, while Gravett and Jiles each had two.
In the second game, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Oglesby reached on an error to start the game, and came home when Sydney Hodorff reached on an infield hit.
The Lions came back with two runs off Kara Patterson (4-5) in the fourth. Gravett tied the game with her sixth home run of the season in the top of the fifth.
Piedmont broke the tie with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, then added one more in the sixth for the 6-2 final.
The Panthers host Birmigham-Southern in a doubleheader Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m.
