LAGRANGE, Ga. - Belhaven completed a six-run comeback to snatch game one of the series against the Panthers of LaGrange College by a final score of 11-6. The Blazers improved to 19-9 on the year and 7-3 in the Collegiate Conference of the South, while LC fell to 13-14 in the 2025 campaign & 5-2 in CCS play. 
 
The Panthers did damage in the first three innings, as senior David Smigelski blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the first to give LC a 3-0 lead. Two innings later, a BU fielding error, a Noah Preuer single and a passed ball extended LaGrange's lead to six through three frames. 
 
The Blazers started to inch away at the Panther lead. Belhaven got their first run off starter Josiah Chiesa thanks to an LC fielding error in the fourth, and another run on a sacrifice fly in the top half of the sixth inning. LC kept this strong lead through Chiesa. The freshman ace threw 115 pitches in 5.1 innings pitched, only giving up one run and striking out three. 
 
The comeback came in the seventh and eighth inning for the Blazers. LC trotted five different arms in the frames, but it was not enough. Timely two-strike hitting and huge momentum pushed the Blazers to score three in the seventh and seven more in the eighth to open a 11-6 lead on LaGrange 
 
The Panthers could not muster any hitting to push a comeback. The Blazer bullpen allowed just one hit in the last three to preserve the opening game of the series. 
Smigelski, Jorge Fragoso and Adam Dorn led the Panthers with two hits each, with Smigelski's two hits going for extra bases. LC finished with nine hits and two errors. 
 
Up Next: The Panthers will play games two and three of the series on Saturday (Apr. 5). First pitch for game one is set for 2 p.m., and game two to follow around 5 p.m. Saturday will also be Alumni Day for the Panthers. To watch the game and live stats, click here.