SAN ANTONIO - The Majors and Tigers played for sole possession of first place in the SCAC West today and needed extra innings to get a winner.
The 10th-ranked Tigers took the early lead in the second inning thanks to a fielding error by Major second baseman Kevin Wall. The Majors got it back though in the top of the fifth on a wild pitch that allowed Wall to advance home after being hit with a pitch to get him on the basepaths in the first place.
The game then settled into a predictable groove for the next four innings. A scoreless sixth and seventh led to both teams matching each other the rest of the way through regulation.
The Majors scored one in the top of the eighth with a little "small ball" after Jeremy Aliff reached on another hit-by-pitch. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, Drew Leonard bunted him to third on the sacrifice and Josh Riggins bunted him home on the next at-bat. The Tigers kept pace with a single run in their half of the inning to keep the tie heading into the ninth.
The Majors scored two in the ninth with two outs. More inconsistent pitching by the Tigers allowed the go-ahead run to walk across the plate after loading the bases with another hit batsman and two walks. Jules Roussel got the second run with single up the middle that plated Aliff.
Trinity answered again with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra frames, but they had no answer for what the Majors did in the tenth.
Will Hawkins led the inning with a blast to left center that gave the Majors the 5-4 lead. Wes Perkins doubled in the next spot and Andrew Evans walked to put two on for Josh Ordeneaux. Ordeneaux tripled down the right field line to score both Perkins and Evanst. Kevin Wall doubled down the left field line on the new Tiger pitcher to score Ordeneaux from third. A fielding error put Jeremy Aliff on second base and scored Wall from second, all to put Millsaps up 9-4 with nobody out.
Will Hawkins came back around in the inning and cleared the left field wall again, this time with two on, to set the final margin of 10-4. The shell-shocked Tigers got only one hit on Jason Riggins in the bottom of the tenth.
The Majors will try to put a little distance between themselves and the Tigers now with a single game tomorrow at noon.
