Panthers break out of slump with 30-4 win over Case Western
March 8, 2008

LaGrange College broke out of a four-game slump with a 30-4 win over Case Western Reserve University at Cleaveland Field on Saturday. The Panthers improved to 5-7 on the season. The Spartans (1-1) were coming off a season-opening 5-4 win over fifth-ranked Emory on Friday.

The Panthers had 26 hits in the game. Luis Perez led the way with a perfect 4-for-4 day. He scored three runs and drove in another three runs. Eric Heath had four RBIs off two hits, including a double.  Cory Maticola and Patrick Langley each had three hits. Matticola, Michael Sims and Trey Walker all had three RBIs.

Jeff Tucker (1-2) pitched five innings to get his first win of the season. Tucker allowed three earned runs, walked three and struck out four. Kegan Bailey gave up a run in three innings, while walking two and striking out three. J.J. Martone closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning, striking two and retiring the side in order.

Leading 1-0, the Panthers broke out for 10 runs in the third inning. The Panthers had only five hits in the inning. Perez started the inning with a routine grounder to first that bounced off the bag for a base hit. Matticola drove in two runs with a single off first baseman Cory Pecoraro's glove. Langley finished the inning with an RBI single to make it 11-0.

The Spartans scored all of their runs in the fourth inning off Tucker. Pecoraro had a run-scoring single to drive in the first run of the inning. Tucker walked in a run with the bases loaded with one out, but got out of the inning with only one more run scoring.

The Panthers answered the Spartans with four runs in their half of the fourth and three more in the fifth to build an 18-3 lead. Sims had a two-run triple in the fourth and Perez capped the fifth with a bases-loaded two-run single.

In the seventh, the Panthers sent 18 batters to the plate. They scored 12 runs on nine hits and helped by two Spartan errors in the inning. Heath had a two-run single and Will Glass added a two-run double in the inning.

The 30 runs were the most by the Panthers since scoring a school-record 39 runs in 2005 against Fisk, also at Cleaveland Field. It was the fourth time the Panthers had scored 30 or more runs in a game.

The two teams play again Sunday in the final game of their weekend series. Game time is 1 p.m.