The regular season championship is the first for the Panthers
since 2006. The Panthers will be the top seed in next weekend's
GSAC Championship Tournament hosted by Piedmont. The Panthers'
first opponent in the tournament has not been decided.
Senior Eric Heath had a career-day for the Panthers. Heath drove in
a career-high seven runs with three hits, including a double. He
also scored four runs. The seven RBIs are the second most by a
Panther in a game during the NCAA era.
The Panthers pounded out 22 hits in the game. Robbie Shelton had
four hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. David
Miller and Brent Kinsey joined Heath with three hits. Miller had
four RBIs, while Zach Engesser and Derek Hooper scored four runs
each. Luis Perez also had three RBIs on two hits.
Neal Smith started for the Panthers and pitched into the seventh
inning. He allowed nine runs; eight of those were earned. Smith
scattered 11 hits, walked five and struck-out a season-high nine
batters. Jonathan Love closed out the game. Love allowed two runs
on three hits in 2-2/3 innings.
Piedmont took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The Panthers came
back with four runs in the second and another in the third to go up
6-5. Heath had a two-run double in the second. Luis Perez put the
Panthers ahead in the third with a two-out RBI single. All of the
Panthers' first six runs came with two outs.
The Lions came back with three runs in the top of the fourth to
take an 8-6 lead. The Panthers responded with a 10-run explosion in
the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.
The Panthers sent 15 batters to the plate in the inning. Brent
Kinsey's RBIs single put the Panthers up 9-8. Later in the inning
with the bases loaded, Heath cleared the bases with a double to
left center for a 14-8 lead. Shelton and Craig Mobley added
run-scoring singles to make it 16-8.
The Panthers built their lead to 22-8 after six innings. Heath and
Miller each had two-run singles in the fifth to make it 20-8. In
the sixth, two more runs scored on wild pitches to make it
22-8.
The two teams conclude their three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m.
