Methodist tops Panthers 6-3 in 2010 season opener
Feb. 7, 2010

Methodist College built an early lead and held on for a 6-3 win over LaGrange College on Sunday at Cleaveland Field. It was the 2010 season opener for both teams.

Methodist got six shutout innings from starter Landon Jordan (1-0). The Monarchs also benefitted from four Panther errors in the game that led to five unearned runs. Trey Such had three RBIs for the Monarchs.

The Panthers were held to two hits by Jordan, but finished the game with seven. Eric Heath and Craig Mobley each had a double for the Panthers. Amauri Smith had a two-run single in four at-bats.

Taylor Smith (0-1) allowed three runs, one earned, in 3-1/3 innings to take the loss for the Panthers. Neal Smith relieved Smith and gave up three unearned runs in 1-2/3 innings of work. Robby Williams allowed two hits in three innings and Kenneth Strack pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

Methodist scored single runs in the first and third innings to go up 2-0. The Monarchs built their lead to 5-0 in the fourth, as Such had a two-run two-out single in the three-run inning. Methodist added another run in the fifth inning to make it 6-0.

The Panthers did all of their scoring in the seventh inning. Mobley greeted reliever Reid Berry with a double to right center. Two outs later, Luis Perez walked and Matt Hvizdzak singled off the third base bag to drive in Mobley. Smith followed with his two-run single to cut Methodist's lead to 6-3.

Kurt Kelly relieved Berry and got the final out of the inning. Kelly gave up a leadoff double to Eric Heath in the eighth and Kevin Bowman in the ninth but kept the Panthers off the scoreboard to earn a save.

The two teams conclude their two-game series Monday at 1 p.m. from Cleaveland Field.