Box Score Demorest, GA - The Piedmont College baseball team had a 6-0 lead after three innings at Walker Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoon, but saw the visiting Panthers of LaGrange College climb back in it to force extra innings for the second time on the weekend.  After Piedmont took a one-run victory on Friday night in 12 innings, the two once again battled through to the 12th inning but it was the Panthers who got the win in the end with a five-run effort in the top of the 12th en route to a 12-7 win to take the final game of the weekend USA South series.

Starting pitcher Chris Goershel got a lift in the Piedmont third after holding the Panthers scoreless their first three innings at the plate as a wacky play on a Griffin Olson double with the bases loaded turned into four runs for the Lions.  A error on the throw back in allowed both Will Skidmore and Olson to score as the umpires awarded Olson home after the thrown careened into the Piedmont dugout. 

Up now 4-0 after the Olson double, one of two base hits on the day for the youngster, the Lions added two more before leaving the third inning as Piedmont would load the bases once more for Michael Barnes this time as he singled in a pair giving the home team a 6-0 lead.  The Panthers would get two runs back in the top of the 4th though Piedmont would answer with a Josh Bailey RBI in the home half of the inning put PC back up by five, 7-2. 

However, that would be the last time Piedmont would score on Sunday as the boys from Demorest continued to let LaGrange hang around with a three-spot just before the stretch at Loudermilk and two more scores in the 8th which tied up the contest at 7-7 as the Lions' 6-run advantage had been erased.  After allowing the score to be leveled, the Lions were retired in order in the 8th and 9th innings as the fans at the ballpark in Demorest would be treated to bonus baseball for the second time on the weekend after the extended affair on Friday night.

Over the final five innings, Piedmont would be able to muster only one base hit as the Lions' bats which were red hot to start the day cooled off with the chilling weather at Loudermilk as the sole base knock belonged to Michael Barnes in the 10th.  However, the next three Lions were sat down in order as Piedmont could not get runners on to give themselves a chance after allowing LaGrange to climb back in the contest. 

Back-to-back base hits by the Panthers in the top of the 12th put the pressure once again on the shoulders of the Lions as Piedmont intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases and put a force on at each bag.  However, LaGrange's Chris Laye would drill a double to the gap in left clearing the bases and put the visitors in front now 10-7.  The Panthers were not done yet though as they added two more on a 2-RBI single off reliever Drew Stephens who had been called upon by Head Coach Jim Peeples to take over for reliever Jacob Brewster after he tossed a scoreless 9th, 10th, and 11th innings. 

Stephens would take the loss in the game as Piedmont was retired in order in the 12th, the 7th time that occurred in the 12 innings on Sunday.  The 12 runs allowed by the Piedmont pitching staff came on 20 hits, both of which are new season highs for the Lions.  The Lions also committed four errors on the day totaling ten in the series and have committed 22 errors in their last seven games.

The loss drops Piedmont to 19-10 on the season and 11-7 in USA South action as the Lions sit in a two-way tie for 4th in the league standings, three games behind table leader Covenant College in the loss column.  The Lions have three conference series left on the 2014 schedule as they try to make up ground on the Scots who were the preseason favorites. 

However, the tall task for PC of catching Covenant grows higher given that the Lions were swept by the Scots in a three-game series earlier this year, the only such sweep against Piedmont in a USA South series in the program's two-year affiliation with the conference.

Piedmont now will look ahead to one of those three series left in USA South action as they head to Wilson, North Carolina this weekend for a three-game set at a neutral site location with Averett University as part of the USA South's spring festival.  The Lions will play the Cougars in the first of three on Friday, April 11th in an 11:00 am game with live stats provided courtesy of the Office of Sports Information at Averett.