LAGRANGE, Ga. --- Junior mathematics major Ryan Yates' eight innings on the mound helped lead the Asbury baseball squad (8-13, 3-2 CCS) to a day split with Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) foe LaGrange (11-11, 1-4 CCS) winning game one 5-4, and dropping game two 9-4.
Game One | ASBURY 5, LAGRANGE 4
The Eagles carried a 5-2 lead into the final frame before the Panthers scratched across two runs on an RBI groundout by Carson Burgamy and an RBI single from Jorge Fragoso. LaGrange brought the tying run into scoring position, but the comeback bid stalled as Asbury closed out the one-run victory handing the starter Yates the win and Andrew Gilliam the save.
Yates worked eight innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and four walks over 112 pitches. The right-hander limited damage despite traffic, stranding LaGrange runners in multiple innings as the Panthers left 14 on base. LaGrange starter Beau Collier matched him early, striking out six over 6.0 innings, but took the loss after surrendering four runs on six hits.
LaGrange struck first in the bottom of the first when Tanner Morneau lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Collin McGhee for a 1-0 lead. Asbury answered in the second, when singles from CJ Hussey and Avery Hare, followed by a throwing error, pushed across runs. Edison Burke added an RBI single in the inning as the Eagles turned the deficit into a 2-1 advantage.
In the sixth on a run-scoring single to right by Jackson McElvy that plated Ben Hollenbeck, but Yates prevented further damage and preserved the slim lead through eight.
The Eagles added what proved to be decisive insurance in the seventh. Beaman delivered a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 4-2, and Hussey followed with an RBI double to right-center to make it 5-2. Those two runs loomed large when LaGrange mounted its ninth-inning rally before ultimately falling a run short.
Offensively, Asbury collected 11 hits and left nine on base, while LaGrange finished with 10 hits and two errors. Hank Burns went 3-for-4 to pace the Eagles, and Burke (2-for-5, one run, one RBI) and Hussey (2-for-5, RBI double) added multi-hit efforts.
Game Two | LAGRANGE 9, ASBURY 4
Asbury struck first with a four-run outburst in the top of the second, stringing together timely hits to grab early control. Edison Burke opened the scoring with a two-run single to right, and Hayden Fisher followed with a two-run single to left to make it 4-0 Eagles.
The Eagles finished with 13 hits on the day and did all of its scoring in that second inning, but stranded nine runners and could not push across additional insurance against LaGrange starter Trystin Merson.
LaGrange began to chip away in the fifth when Tanner Morneau drilled a solo home run to left, cutting the deficit to 4-1. Asbury starter Cayden Devine kept the Panthers in check through six innings, allowing just three hits while holding the lead. Devine worked six innings and was charged with five runs on three hits, with three strikeouts and three walks over 99 pitches.
The game turned in the bottom of the seventh. Trailing 4-1, LaGrange mounted a decisive rally that produced five runs and flipped the scoreboard. Jorge Fragoso delivered the biggest swing of the inning with a two-run double to right-center that ignited the comeback and gave the Panthers their first lead, 6-4, by the end of the frame.
LaGrange added three more runs in the eighth, featuring a sacrifice fly from Fragoso and an RBI single from Jackson McElvy, to extend the margin to 9-4 and put the game out of reach.
Offensively, Burke led the way for Asbury with a three-hit performance, going 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored out of the Eagles' attack. Fisher's two-run single in the second capped the early surge, and Asbury's lineup produced two doubles among its 13 hits, but the Eagles could not capitalize late against Merson despite consistent traffic on the bases.
On the mound, Asbury's staff limited LaGrange to just four hits, but eight walks and two hit batters helped fuel the Panthers' late rallies. The Eagles were also hurt by two defensive errors, while LaGrange played error-free baseball and stranded only six runners.
AU tries to earn their second CCS series win tomorrow, taking on the Panthers in game three at noon.
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Ryan Yates | 8 IP, 2 ER, 4 K W (2-2)
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Edison Burke | 5-10, 3 RBI, 2 R
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Hank Burns | 4 H, R, 2B
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CJ Hussey | 3 H, RBI, 2B
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Avery Hare | 3 H, 2 R
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Aaron Beaman | 3 H, R, RBI, BB
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Cayden Devine | 6 IP, 3 K
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