Panthers open 2008 season at Oglethorpe:: LaGrange College

Panthers open 2008 season at Oglethorpe
Feb. 5, 2008

LaGrange College will open its 2008 season at Oglethorpe University's Anderson Field in Atlanta on Wednesday. Game time is 6 p.m. This is the third straight time the Panthers have opened the season with the Stormy Petrels. Oglethorpe won last year 10-7at Cleaveland Field. The Panthers won 4-2 in the 2006 season opener, also at Cleaveland Field.

The Panthers lead the series 19-4. They have won three straight and 15 of the last 16 meetings with Oglethorpe. The Panthers swept a doubleheader 13-6 and 4-1 on April 17, 2007 at Cleaveland Field the last time the two teams met. LaGrange head coach Kevin Howard is 31-8 overall against Oglethorpe. He was 12-4 against the Stormy Petrels as coach at Emory.

The Panthers come into the 2008 season returning their top seven hitters from last season and two pitchers who accounted for 13 wins. Heading the returners is senior All-American and team Most Valuable Player center fielder Michael Sims. Along with Sims are three returning All-GSAC selections: Jesse Brown, Patrick Langley and Cory Matticola.

Sims heads the Panthers' outfield. He was the only Panther to play and start all 45 games last season. He batted .401 with three home runs and 37 RBIs. He led the team with 32 stolen bases and six triples. Brown heads the catching corps. He batted .333 with three home runs and 24 RBIs last season. Langley, at third base, led the team with 44 RBIs while batting .394. Matticola was All-GSAC at designated hitter. He led the team with four home runs and drove in 34 runs while batting .371 in 39 games.

Senior Justin Phelps heads the starting rotation. He tied for the second most wins in a season, finishing 9-4 in 20 appearances with a 3.66 earned run average. Sophomore Nick Vitale was 4-0 with a 3.35 earned run average. He moved into the starting rotation late in the season and won all four of his starts, including a complete-game win over Piedmont in the GSAC tournament. Junior Ben Hudson returns after sitting out 2007 with an injury.

The Panthers will once again play a difficult schedule in 2008. The schedule is headed by a home-and-home series against Emory, the 2007 NCAA Division III national runner-up. The schedule has a number of perennial powerhouses: Millsaps, Methodist, N.C. Wesleyan and Salisbury State. Of the 21 opponents on the schedule, 13 had winning records and include two conference tournament champions.

The Panthers open the season with seven straight games on the road. After Oglethorpe, the Panthers play at the Wilson/DeMarini Classic hosted by Millsaps College on Feb. 8-10. The Panthers play at Louisiana College on Feb. 15-16. The Panthers have their home opener Feb. 23 against Methodist in the first of a two-game series.