By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

They knew what they needed to do.

Coming into their weekend series with Piedmont, the LaGrange College Panthers needed to win two-of-three to earn a share of the Great South Athletic Confer-ence title, and a sweep would give them the championship outright.

After battering the Lions by a combined score of 32-15 in the first two games, the Panthers returned to Cleaveland Field on Sunday afternoon with a chance to pull off the sweep.

Thanks to terrific pitching performances by Doug Scherer and closer James Connell, the Panthers made it happen, outlasting Piedmont 3-2 before a few appreciative fans to finish atop the heap in the GSAC.

The Panthers (22-17 overall) finished 6-3 in conference play, and they have one more regular-season game remaining Tuesday against Oglethorpe before participating in the conference tournament next weekend.

“We haven’t won (a conference title) in my four years, and that was our goal at the beginning of the year,” senior Eric Heath said. “We worked hard in the offseason, and conference was our goal. We didn’t have the record we’d hoped for, but when it came to conference time, we knuckled down and we played hard. To be outright champions is awesome.”

The Panthers had gone three seasons without winning a GSAC regular-season or tournament championship.

“We kind of dominated the conference for the first seven years, and now we have parity, and we’ve been out of the mix for the last three,” LaGrange coach Kevin Howard said. “We’ve been runnerup twice, but no cigar. It’s great to get back up there.”

Added catcher Luis Perez, who caught all three games against Piedmont: “It means everything (to win the conference). We didn’t have the season we’d hoped, but to be conference champions is what we strived for.”

The Panthers have had an up-and-down season, but they’ve caught fire at the end.

They’ve won four in a row, and a win over Oglethorpe would match their season high with five wins in a row.

They were at their best against a Piedmont team that came into Friday’s game with a 4-2 conference record.

They opened the series with a 10-4 win Friday night, and as impressive as that was, they more than doubled their offensive output on Saturday in a 22-11 win.

The Lions played better on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough, not against Scherer and Connell, who combined to give up six hits and just one earned run.

Scherer, a freshman, pitched into the eighth inning and gave up one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts.

Connell relieved Scherer with no outs and a couple of men on in the eighth.

After the Lions scored on a fielder’s choice to get within a run, Connell worked his way out of trouble to keep the lead in tact.

Connell got a strikeout with the bases loaded to get out of the inning.

In the ninth, Connell worked a one-two-three inning to finish it, and the players stormed the field in celebration.

Howard said the team played “the game the way it’s supposed to be played, with pitching, hitting and base-running. They had the confidence, the composure, the focus and the energy level it takes to play this game.”

When you get everything lined up where you’re playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played, with pitching, hitting and base-running. You have the confidence, the composure, the focus, and the energy level it takes to play this game.”

The Panthers left the bases loaded without scoring in the first inning, but they pushed three runs across in the second.

Brent Kinsey left off with a double, and Dale Feldman reached on an error.

With two outs, Derek Hooper walked to load the bases, and Eric Heath followed with base hit to bring in the game’s first run.

Robbie Shelton came through with a hard-hit single to center field to bring in two more runs and make it 3-0.

Piedmont scored an unearned run in the third inning before scoring its second and final run in the eighth.

The Panthers had their chances to add to the lead, but they were unable to find home plate again after the second inning.

With Scherer and Connell mowing down Piedmont’s hitters, it didn’t matter.

“Doug pitched a phenomenal game today,” Howard said.

Howard said he felt turning the game over to Connell, who has been one of the team’s most reliable pitchers all season.

Connell has a team-high 18 appearances, and he’s 4-1 with four saves and a sterling 3.21 earned run average.

“He’s done it all year long,” Howard said. “He’s done a great job.”