Birmingham-Southern Baseball and right hander Josh Leerssen kicked off their round robin with a shutout victory against LaGrange College. 

Junior outfielder Eli Steadman got the Panthers rolling with a lead-off single in the bottom of the first. Andrew Dutton and Ian Hancock followed suit with a left-center double and RBI SAC fly, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead within four batters. Jakob Zito picked up the second RBI of the inning with a base hit up the middle, scoring Andrew Dutton. 

In the bottom of the second, Forrest Lietz had a first pitch lead-off home run to left center, giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead. Eli Steadman and Andrew Dutton both picked up their second hits in as many innings, with an RBI for Andrew Dutton and a 4-0 lead for BSC. 

BSC right hander Josh Leerssen was dominant through 3 innings, allowing no hits and no runs. 

Ty Truett led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk, followed by Forrest Lietz's second hit of the day. Mitch Austin gave the Panthers 6-0 run lead with a double smoked down the left field line scoring both Truett and Lietz. Steadman earned 3-for-3 status with an RBI single to right field, scoring Austin and giving BSC a 7 run lead in just 3 innings.  Andrew Dutton also earned 3-for-3 status in 3 innings, picking up another single to right field.

In the bottom of the fifth, Ian Hancock picked up his second RBI of the day with a deep single to left field, giving the Panthers a 8-0 lead. Ty Truett stayed productive at the plate with a left field RBI single. 

Leerssen remained a force on the mound, allowing no runs and just 2 hits— securing a 9 run lead through 6 innings. Ben Hoover came onto the rubber for the Panther's 7th and delivered another scoreless inning. Freshman Dom Scalese joined in the relief efforts, delivering a scoreless 8th inning. Eli Steadman reached on a hit by pitch in the bottom of the 8th, reaching base safely for the 6th time on the night. Grayson Munion secured the shutout win for the Panthers delivering a scoreless 9th inning. 

The Panthers return to play for a 10:30 first pitch at Striplin Field on Saturday, February 23rd.