JACKSON – The Millsaps Majors Softball began their senior weekend with a bang as they clinched a spot in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament with two wins over they Rhodes Lynx on Saturday afternoon. Senior Allison Tarbox belted a three run homerun to win it in the ninth, 6-3 while junior Megan Yglesias forced elimination on the Lynx as her two run homer in the fifth gave Millsaps a 12-3 win in five innings.
Rhodes started the game by getting two runners on base in the first and second innings, but sophomore Laurel Jones did a tremendous job working out of a jam and keeping the game scoreless.
The Majors came up in the bottom of the second as junior Emily Collins walked with one out to get on. Senior Jade Hewitt came to the plate and belted a double to left center to give Millsaps a 1-0 lead.
Jones continued to work well on the mound as sophomore Allyson Christian came to the plate in the fourth and had a great at bat that ended in a long homerun down the left field line to make it a 2-0.
Millsaps continued to dominate thanks to terrific pitching from Jones, but the Lynx did not go down quietly as they responded with two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at two and keep them alive in the game. They then got a run in the eighth to make it a 3-2 game.
However, freshman Karen McWilliams came away with an infield single to tie the game at three in the bottom of the eighth as the game went into another extra inning.
After putting down the Lynx in the ninth, sophomore Caroline Thompson came through with a single followed by another single from Yglesias. Tarbox then stepped to the plate and hit a line drive to dead center that sailed over the fence to punch the Majors tickets to the SCAC Tournament in late April.
Tarbox finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored while Thompson was 3-for-5 with a run scored. Christian added a 2-for-4 game with a RBI. Sophomore Molly Tyner earned the win for the Majors to improve to 3-1 on the season.
The Majors got things rolling in Game Two as sophomore Katie Birdwell laced a single through the right side after two straight singles by Yglesias and Tarbox to make it 1-0.
Millsaps added three more in the second as McWilliams led the inning off with her first homerun of her career to make it 2-0. Thompson and sophomore Abbie Joiner added back-to-back RBIs to increase the Majors lead to 4-0.
After Rhodes put a run on the board in the third, Millsaps exploded in the bottom half of the inning for six runs to take over the game.
Collins led the inning off with a one out walk as Hewitt and sophomore Logan Dukes followed her up with walks to load the bases with two outs. Thompson then doubled down the left field line to score two to make it 6-1. After another walk to Joiner, Yglesias smashed a double down the left field line to clear the bases and make it a 9-1 game. Tarbox followed her up with RBI double to keep the inning going.
Rhodes got two in the fifth to keep the game alive, but Yglesias finished it off in the bottom of the fifth as she muscled a ball over the left center fence to give the Majors the elimination win, 12-3.
Collins earned the win for Millsaps to improve to 4-8 on the season. Offensively, Yglesias had a huge game, going 3-for-4 with five RBIs and three runs scored to lead Millsaps. Thompson followed her up with a 2-for-4 game including two RBIs while Tarbox was 2-for-3 with one RBI.
The Majors improve to 15-17 on the year and have clinched a spot in the SCAC Tournament with a record of 10-4. They can wrap up the No. 2 seed with just one win over the Lynx in their doubleheader tomorrow as the team will recognize seniors Allison Tarbox and Jade Hewitt at the conclusion of the game. First pitch for the doubleheader is set for 12 p.m.
