Greensboro took the first game of its USA South series with LaGrange; downing the Panthers 15-8 on Thursday night at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium.

The loss left the Panthers 10-16 overall and 9-10 in conference play. Greensboro upped its record to 11-16 and 10-12 in the conference.

The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. They loaded the bases with one out. Jim Reed drew a walk to force in Kyle Gutowski, who had doubled. James Maxwell scored the second run as Keith Sims flew out to right field.

The Pride exploded for seven runs off Zach Tatham (3-3) in the fourth to take the lead for good.

Trailing 10-3, the Panthers got within striking distance with four runs in the sixth inning. Alex Murfin opened the inning with a double and came around to score on Casey Bell's base hit. Cain Sauls followed with a double to right center driving in Sims and Bell came all the way around to score also. James Poropatic's RBI single capped the inning, driving in Sauls to make it 10-7.

But Greensboro came back with two runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

The Panthers had 11 hits in the game. Maxwell, Poropatic and Sauls each had two hits. 

The two teams play Friday at 7 p.m. in the second game of the series.