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Official Stats
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Sophomore \#Will Hawkins\#' leadoff, solo home run in the top of the 12th inning -- his only hit of the game -- lifted 12th-ranked Millsaps to a thrilling, 9-8 victory over host Huntingdon College on Wednesday night at Neal Posey Field.
The win for Millsaps was its 12th consecutive as they moved to 18-1 overall. The loss snapped a 3-game winning streak for Huntingdon as they fell to 9-7 on the season.
Despite getting out-hit 17-7, the Majors found a way to come up with the clutch hit when they needed it to stay perfect on the road at 7-0 at the midway point of the season.
"Things aren't always going to go your way," head coach Jim Page said. "I was proud of the way our kids battled tonight and handled adversity and I'm glad we got the win."
Millsaps looked to run away with it early, building a commanding 8-0 lead after three innings with three runs in the first and second and two more in the third. Senior \#Hunter Owen\#'s three-run home run off the first pitch he saw in the first moved him into first all-time at Millsaps past Mike Highfill with 35 career long balls, but more importantly gave the Majors a 3-0 lead.
Huntingdon (9-7) however clawed its way back into the game the ensuing three innings, plating a single run in the third off a Chad Green RBI-single, four in the fourth with two outs and another in the fifth to bring it to 8-6 after five.
Behind the arms of Alex Sanford and Caleb Cofield, who combined for just two hits and one run while striking out 10 in 8.0 innings of work, the Hawks fought their way back to an 8-8 tie off John Otterson's sac fly in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
After a scoreless 10th and 11th, Hawkins' solo home run on a 1-0 pitch to leftfield was the go-ahead run for Millsaps that held on to be the winning at-bat after Huntingdon stranded a runner at third in its half of the 12th.
The Hawks got their leadoff runner on base, Otterson, by way of a single and error before a Josh Bennefield sac bunt put him at third with one down. Two batters later with runners on the corners, a Dane Vansant fly out to right looked deep enough to score Otterson, but the senior hesitated at third and did not test the arm of Owen, who had already gunned a runner out at the plate earlier in the second. A groundout to second ended the game a batter later.
\#Aaron Williams\# (4-0, 4.17 ERA) tossed 4.0 innings in relief to earn his fourth win of the season, scattering three hits and a run while walking three. \#Boomer Hudson\#, who threw 3.0 innings of middle relief, lowered his ERA to a 1.00 with three strikeouts. Cofield (0-2) was tagged with the loss, after giving up just one hit -- the home run to Hawkins -- in 4.0 innings while striking out a game-high six.
Owen (15 games), Hawkins (14 games) and \#Russ Boyd\# (11 games) each extended their hitting streaks with hits on the night, while Huntingdon was paced by Bennefield with a 4-for-5 evening.
Millsaps will continue a three-game road swing this weekend, traveling to Trinity University for the opening two games of a five-game season series. Saturday's first pitch is set for 1 p.m., while Sunday's game is slated for a noon start.
