DECATUR, Ga. - LaGrange closed out its 2016 season with a sweep of Agnes Scott at Oakhurst Park on Monday. The Panthers (15-22)
blanked the Scotties 2-0 in eight innings in the first game, then completed the sweep with a come-from-behind 11-6 win in the second game.
Senior Dani Gravett threw a complete game in Game 1 to close out her pitching career. In the second game, a trio of freshmen drove in seven of the 11 runs, including a grand slam by Sydney Hodorff.
"I'm really happy our seniors could go out with two wins," said Coach Jennifer Claybrook. "They played incredible tonight and set the tone for next year. These seniors won a USA South Tournament championship along with playing in a NCAA Division III tournament and left a great foundation for the younger players to build on."
Along with Gravett, the two games were the last for seniors Kalin Oglesby, Kara Patterson, Jessica Smith, Abby Stuckey, and Brook Turner.
Gravett (9-9) and the Scotties' Molly Baker had a pitcher's duel in the first game. Gravett allowed only three hits, walked one, and struck out three. Baker gave up the two runs, five hits, walked three and struck out three.
The Panthers broke the scoreless tie in the eighth inning. Oglesby moved over to third and then scored on sacrifice bunts by Gravett and Turner to take a 1-0 lead. Hodorff added an insurance run with an RBI single to drive in pinch runner Ashley Chafin to make it 2-0. The Scotties got a runner to third in the bottom of the inning with one out, but Gravett retired the final two batters to close out the victory.
In the second game, Hodorff staked the Panthers to a 4-0 lead in the first inning with her grand slam. It was her third home run of the season.
Agnes Scott answered with six runs in the second inning to go up 6-4. Emily Cauldwell (2-4) came on in relief and shut out the Scotties over the final 5-2/3 innings. She gave up just two hits, walked one, and struck out three.
The Panthers got a run back in the third and added another in the fourth to tie the game 6-6. Adrienne Little had a run-scoring single in the third, then Gravett scored the tying runon one of the six errors committed by the Scotties in the game.
In the sixth, the Panthers broke the tie with the help of two more errors. Maegan Harrison reached on an error to start the inning and later scored on Michaela Keel's sacrifice fly to put the Panthers back in the lead. Turner's ground ball was booted for the second error of the inning, allowing Gravett to come home to make it 8-6.
The Panthers added three insurance runs in the seventh. Pinch runner Carolyn Harkness scored the inning's first run as Harrison grounded out. Oglesby kept the inning going with a two-out RBI double to drive in Little, who had reached on an infield hit. After a walk to Gravett, Keel singled up the middle, scoring Oglesby for the final run of the inning and making it 11-6.
The Panthers had 11 hits in the game. Little finished with three hits, while Gravett and Harkness each had two.
