LaGrange got strong pitching in sweeping Covenant in a USA South doubleheader Saturday at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium. The Panthers (10-7, 2-1 USA South) were able to take the first conference series 2-1 over the Scots (15-8, 1-2 USA South) with 8-2 and 4-1 wins.

Dalton Brooks (3-1) threw five scoreless innings to get the win in Game 1, striking out eight against just one walk. Jack Richards had 3-1/3 innings of shutout relief to earn his first save of the season. In the second game, four pitchers combined for a three-hitter, striking out 14. Brett Caneega picked up the win with 2-2/3 shutout innings. Spencer Douches closed out the sweep for his third save of the season. In the three games, Panther pitchers recorded 41 strikeouts.

The Panthers banged out 26 hits Saturday, 15 in the first game. Cael Chatham was 5-for-8 with two runs scored in the doubleheader. Rhett Mixon was 3-for-3, including a double, scored three runs and had two RBIs in Game 1. Jack Layrisson had three hits and an RBI in the second game.

Game 1
LC ended its own three-game losing streak and Covenant's five-game winning streak in the first game. The Panthers had everyone in the lineup have at least one hit and took advantage of four Scot errors.

Brooks worked out of a jam in the second inning. The Scots had runners on second and third with just one out. Brooks struck out the last two batters to get out of the inning. 

The Panthers picked up a run in the third. Mixon was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Rhett Hebert singled, with both runners advancing to second and third on an error on the play. Mixon came home on the second error of the inning for a 1-0 lead. 

LC padded its lead with a four-run fourth inning. Mixon had a two-run double down the left field line and Joe Ruth had an RBI triple to center field in the inning. The Scots got two runs off reliever Tanner Chafin in the sixth. Richards got the final out of the inning, then held the Scots to two hits the rest of the way to pick up the save. 

The Panthers closed out their scoring with a run in the sixth and two more in the eighth. Rhett Hebert's sacrifice fly drove home Jared Aldridge in the sixth, who had led off the inning with a single. In the eighth, Aldridge and Mixon had back-to-back base hits to start the inning, and moved up on Hebert's sacrifice bunt. McKingley Erves cleared the bases with a two-out two-run single to right center to make it 8-2. 

Game 2
Michael Menheart made his first start of the season in Game 2. He retired the Scots in order in the first inning. In the second, Covenant loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batsman. Menheart got a fly out to end the threat. Erves' RBI double to deep left center in the third put LC up 1-0. The Scots tied the game in the fourth off Menheart, who was relieved by Caneega.

The Panthers regained the lead in their half of the fourth. Chatham and Layrisson started the inning with back-to-back singles. David Smigelski's sacrifice bunt moved the runners up.  Chatham scored as Trey Pearce ground out to first.

LC added a run in the fifth and another in the sixth for 4-1 lead. The Panthers picked up a two-out run in the fifth on Layrisson's run-scoring single, scoring E.J. Churchich, who had walked to keep the inning going. Chatham's base hit put Churchich in scoring position before Layrisson's second hit of the game. Pearce led off the sixth with a double to the fence in right field. He came around to score on Mixon's RBI single up the middle.

Freshman Tyler Brooks made his collegiate debut in the seventh. He struck out the side, two of the strikeouts coming after he fell behind 3-0 in the count. Douches relieved Brooks with two outs in the eighth. He got a strike out to end the inning, then retired the Scots in order in the ninth, striking out the final two batters.

The Panthers host Huntingdon in a USA South three-game series next weekend. The two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.