Panthers explode for 50 runs in doubleheader sweep of Purchase
March 19, 2008

Michael Sims and Patrick Langley led LaGrange to a doubleheader sweep of Purchase (N.Y.) College on Wednesday at Cleaveland Field. The Panthers (11-9) won the first game 16-6 and completed the sweep with a 34-5 win in the second game.

Sims went 7-for-8 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in the doubleheader. He also scored nine runs and was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases. In the second game, Sims had a career-high six RBIs and lacked a single of hitting for the cycle. He has hit three home runs in the last five games and leads the team.

Langley went 8-for-9 with seven RBIs in the two games. He was a perfect 4-for-4 in the first game. Langley extended his hit streak to eight straight before lining out to center in his third at-bat in the second game. He raised his team-leading batting average to .540 after the doubleheader.

Pitchers Jeff Tucker and Cody Belt benefitted from the Panthers' offensive explosion. Tucker (3-2) went five innings to get the win in the first game. He allowed four earned runs, walked one and struck out five. Belt (3-2) pitched four scoreless innings, allowing only one hit. He walked one and struck out seven.

Purchase (1-9) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the first game. The Panthers answered with six runs in their half of the first. Langley tied the game with a two-run single. Tyson Sandlin capped the inning with a two-run single of his own.

Leading 8-4 in the third inning, the Panthers put the game out of reach with eight unanswered runs over three innings. Sims had an RBI double and hit his first home run of the night, a three-run blast to left in the fifth inning to make it 16-4.

LaGrange picked up where it left off in the first game to start the second game. The Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, as Jesse Brown had a two-run double in the inning. Sims had led off the inning with a triple and scored on Langley's base hit.

The Panthers exploded for 10 runs in the second inning and sent 21 batters to the plate as part of a 16-run third inning to make it 29-0. Sims and Korey Ison, who tied a career-high with six RBIs in the game, each had three-run home runs in the second inning. Corbin Clinage and Cory Matticola both had bases-clearing three-run doubles in the third inning.

LaGrange finished the doubleheader with 42 hits, 27 coming in the second game. Purchase's pitching staff issued 21 walks and hit five batters.

The Panthers host Wisconsin-Platteville on Thursday beginning at 7 p.m.