Panthers reach .500 with 9-5 win over Shenandoah
March 10, 2008

LaGrange reached .500 on the season with its third straight win. The Panthers (7-7) broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning and went on to a 9-5 win over Shenandoah (7-7) on Monday at Cleaveland Field.  The Panthers banged out 14 hits in the win, the fourth straight game they have reached double-digits in hits.

The first three hitters for the Panthers combined for nine hits and scored eight runs. Patrick Langley went 4-for-5 with four runs scored and two RBIs. He raised his batting average to .458 for the season. Michael Sims had three hits and scored two runs. Seth Tucker had a pair of hits and also scored twice. Korey Ison, batting fifth, had two hits and drove in three runs.

Nick Vitale (2-0) pitched five innings to get the win. He gave up three runs; only one earned, did not walk a batter and struck out five. David Tillis pitched into the ninth, scattering six hits and allowing two runs. Curt Ellison came on to get the final out to record his first save of the season.

The Panthers handed Hornets' ace Matt Davis (3-1) his first loss of the season. The Panthers became the first team to get an earned run off Davis. Davis entered the game without allowing an earned run in 22-1/3 innings in three prior starts. He allowed six runs, three earned in 4-1/3 innings of work.

The game started out sloppy for both teams. The Panthers got two unearned runs off Davis in the first inning with the aid of two Hornet errors for a 2-0 lead. Shenandoah took advantage of two errors by the Panthers in the top of the second to tie the game at 2-2.

LaGrange retook the lead in the third inning. Langley reached on a misplayed pop up to short right field that resulted in a two-base error. He moved over to third on a ground out and scored on Ison's two-out single to right to make it 3-2.

Shenandoah tied the game again in the top of the fifth inning. The Panthers came back in the bottom of the inning to chase Davis and take the lead for good. Sims led off the inning with a single and later scored on Langley's base hit to make it 4-3. Ison doubled to left center to drive in Langley with the second run of the inning. Eric Heath's ground out to first scored Cory Matticola to make it 6-3.

LaGrange added to its lead in the sixth inning. The Panthers pushed across three more runs to up their lead to 9-3. Langley and Blake Allen had run-scoring singles in the inning. Ison drove in the other run with a ground out to second.

The Hornets got a run in the seventh inning and another in the ninth. Scott Van Dusseldorp's RBI double in the ninth made it 9-5. The Hornets loaded the bases off Chase Sturm, who relieved Tillis after Van Dusseldorp's hit. Curt Ellison came on for Sturm and got Christian Frey to hit into a force play to end the game.

The two teams conclude their two-game series Tuesday. Game time is 3 p.m. at Cleaveland Field.