BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College baseball team (16-13, 5-7 USA South) fell in seven innings, 15-3, to nationally-ranked No. 4 LaGrange College (24-3, 8-1 USAS) on Sunday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
The Panthers scored 14 unanswered runs, including eight in the fifth inning, to take the conference win and sweep the series over Brevard.
Blake Burchett went 2-for-3 with a run scored and his 30th stolen base of 2022, which leads all of Division III baseball. Frankie Vasquez hit a two-RBI single, while Jason Jucker logged an RBI single. Joc Pledger, who earned his first start of the 2022 season, scored a run and added a base knock.
LaGrange exploded for 15 runs on 17 hits, led by a 4-for-5 performance with two extra-base hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Four other Panthers totaled multi-hit performances, including Rhett Hebert who totaled three RBIs.
Cameron Cook (3-2) got the start for Brevard, striking out a pair of batters in four innings. Stephen Bartolotta (2-0) earned the win for LaGrange, while Jacob Brown turned in a three-inning save.
Hebert got the scoring going for the Panthers in the top of the second, driving in a run on a sacrifice fly. Brevard was able to answer right back in the bottom of the third inning, scoring three runs to take its first lead of the series, 3-1.
Pledger got the rally going with a bunt base hit with one out. After advancing to second on a passed ball, Jucker stroked an RBI single to center field that scored the Tornado dual-sport athlete, tying things up at 1-1. Burchett singled, and Cale Oehler was hit by a pitch with two outs to load the bases.
Vasquez came through for the Tornados with a two-RBI single, as Brevard took a 3-1 advantage. BC had runners on second and third, but a pop-out ended the threat.
LaGrange tied things up in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs before surging ahead with an eight-run fifth inning, as the nationally-ranked Panthers took a commanding 11-3 lead.
A three-RBI triple and a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh pushed the Panther lead to a 15-3 margin, as LaGrange held on to the 12-run lead to claim the contest in seven innings.
Brevard will look to bounce back next weekend as the Tornados hit the road for a conference series against Huntingdon College, beginning on Friday, April 15 with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT in Montgomery, Alabama.
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-BC-