Box Score Game 1 |
Box Score Game 2
LaGrange, GA -- The Piedmont College softball team took another step toward a Great South Athletic Conference regular season championship earlier tonight earning their way to a doubleheader sweep of LaGrange College on the road. The Lady Lions took it to the Panthers in game one overtaking the home team with a 7-1 victory, but needed every last effort to complete the sweep in game two with an extra-inning 2-0 win.
PC took a 2-0 lead early on in game one scoring a pair of runs in the first inning as
Megan McClain alertly took home on a passed ball for the first score of the day. Sophomore
Taylor Morgan then put a Panther pitch past the infield for a RBI single that scored third baseman
Jamie Dennis to give PC its second score.
Piedmont continued t put the opener out of reach with a four-run fourth that pushed the Lady Lions out in front by a comfortable 6-0 margin. The four scores came courtesy of a Morgan steal at home and a trio of LaGrange errors as the visitors continued to put pressure on the Panther pitching.
Starting pitcher #B.J. Cofer# was almost untouchable on the mound not allowing the home team to get back in the game once receiving a large lead through four. Cofer allowed a lone run to the Panthers down the stretch but saw her own team pick that score back up in the top of the seventh for a relatively easy 7-1 win.
After rolling to a victory in game one, the Lady Lions found themselves in quite a battle in game two as the Panthers went punch for punch with the visiting GSAC leaders. The two clubs stayed deadlocked at 0-0 through seven innings as freshman pitcher
Brittney Head continued to deal from the mound holding the Panthers to just four hits through seven frames.
The Lady Lions then took advantage of their first chance in extra innings when
Megan McClain legged out an infield single to give the visitors a base runner. After the Piedmont shortstop moved over on a passed ball, a
Jamie Dennis sac bunt put the go ahead run for PC at third.
With McClain threatening at third, outfielder
Taylor Morgan increased the pressure on the Panthers by drawing a one-out walk before stealing second to put two Lady Lions in scoring position for
Emily Cheek. The junior came through in a big spot for Head Coach
Terry Martin by knocking a two-RBI single to the gap in left center which scored McClain and Morgan to put the Lady Lions up 2-0 in the extra inning affair.
A two-run lead was more than enough for the youngster
Brittney Head who stepped on the mound in the bottom of the eighth shooting for her third straight victory. Although the Panthers would get a runner to third off a single and a pair of Lady Lion mistakes with just one out in the inning, Head responded by inducing a pair of ground outs to end the game.
The story of Piedmont's day revolved around quality pitching and reliable defense as Cofer and Head combined to toss a complete game each with the two collecting their eighth and ninth wins of the season respectively. Cofer allowed just five hits in seven innings with a single earned run without issuing a walk while Head struck out nine in eight innings scattering five hits along the way.
Morgan and McClain were the team's leading hitters on the day as Morgan went four for seven including a perfect two for two showing in the encore game while scoring a pair of runs and batting in another. McClain was two for four in both game one and game two scoring two runs on the evening.
The doubleheader sweep improves the Lady Lions to 9-1 in conference play and 18-10 overall. With two games left on their league schedule, Piedmont holds a two-game lead for the regular season title and hosts Covenant College for a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday, April 16 starting at 1:00.
