Someone forgot to tell the Millsaps Majors that they were headed into a snake pit to face perennial SCAC power Trinity. The Majors took it to the Tigers as they won the weekend (3/6-3/7/04) road series two games to one. Millsaps improved to 10-3, 7-2, while Trinity fell to 11-2, 6-2. The Majors now have a ½ game lead in the division.
The Majors set the tone early in the first half of the Saturday twin bill by scoring two runs in the first inning, courtesy of a clutch, two-out single off the bat of Ryan Skertich. Trinity countered with a run in the third which Millsaps matched with a single tally in the fourth, thanks to a steal of home by Skertich.
It stayed that way until the sixth when Trinity tied it at three with a pair of runs. The Majors did not blink as they roared back with a five-spot in the seventh and final inning. Bo Roberts drove in the go-ahead run with a double to left. Matt Renna applied the coup de grace with a ringing double to right that plated three Majors for the final 8-3 margin.
John Fox went five-plus strong innings for Millsaps and Tal Hendrix improved to 2-0 as he pitched two perfect innings. Hendrix has now pitched 11 1/3 innings this season without giving up an earned run. Opponents are hitting a paltry .054 against the sophomore righthander. Lodholz (2-1) took the loss.
Trinity showed its teeth in the second game as they broke open a tight game with four runs in the sixth for an 8-2 lead. The scheduled nine-inning contest was stopped after eight due to the ten-run rule as Trinity came out on top, 12-2.
Nick Crawford went 2 for 4 and Roberts had two RBI to pace the Majors. Trinity pounded out 16 hits as their bats came alive.
Lefty Stephen Kirkpatrick (1-1) took the loss for the Majors while Frost (4-0) went the distance for Trinity, giving up only four safeties
The Majors entered Sunday's game knowing that a win would give them their goal of a series victory. It was another hard-fought contest that was tied at three after six innings. Millsaps put up a run in the fourth and two in the sixth while Trinity notched single scores in the fourth, fifth, and sixth.
Millsaps' first three runs were the result of a Joe Thrash RBI double and a Stuart Phillips 2-RBI single. The Majors took the lead for good as they pushed across a run in the seventh on a lead-off Skertich homer to left. They added two insurance runs in the eighth on sacrifice flies by Scott Staines and Renna.
Tough-as-nails Doug Garner (4-1) went the distance in the nine-inning affair, scattering eight hits, walking just one, and fanning eight. He struck out pinch-hitter Tettleton, who represented the potential tying run, to end the game. Garner now has a sparkling 1.39 ERA for the season.
