LaGrange split a non-conference doubleheader with Judson on Thursday at the LC Softball Complex. The Panthers (12-14) won the first game 3-1, while the Eagles (14-16) took the second game 5-4.
It was Senior Day for four Panthers. Kelsey Dietz, Carolyn Harkness, Sydney Hodorff, and Michaela Keel were honored between games.
Game 1
Ansley Brown (1-0) pitched seven innings of scoreless relief to lead LC to the first game win. Brown relieved Emsley Smith in the first with two and none out. She allowed one of the inherited runners to score before getting out of the inning. Brown would scatter three hits, strike out four, and did not walk a batte. Taylor Long led off the LC first inning with her first home run of the season to tie the game 1-1. The Panthers took advantage of two errors to score the go-ahead runs in the sixth. Lauren DeLoach kept the inning going with a two-out singleinfield hit. Keel and Haley Coleman reached on back-to-back errors, as DeLoach scored the go-ahead run. Dietz followed with an RBI single to drive in pinch runner Kaitlin Redman to up the lead to 3-1.
Game 2
Judson got a two-out two-run home run from Taylor Hutton to highlight a three-run sixth inning and held on for the 5-4 win. The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Panthers came back with three runs in the third inning to go up 3-2. Hodorff's two-run single capped the inning. Coleman drew the Panthers within a run with a solo home run to lead off the LC half of the sixth. Payton Thomas started for LC and gave up two runs, one earned in four innings. Kristina Calixto (1-2) was the victim of the Eagles' rally in the sixth inning. Natalie Glass finished the game for the Panthers with 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
The Panthers play at Berea in a USA South doubleheader Saturday.
