JACKSON – The Millsaps Majors Softball Team picked up two Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference wins on Friday afternoon as they welcomed in the University of the South. The Majors got a pair of complete game, two hit shutouts from sophomores Laurel Jones and Molly Tyner and 25 total hits to cruise to 8-0 and 9-0 wins.
After putting Sewanee down in order, the Majors got on the board first as sophomore Caroline Thompson led the game off with a single, after stealing second, sophomore Abbie Joiner walked and both girls advanced to second and third on a passed ball. Junior Megan Yglesias put the ball in play as she grounded out to the shortstop to give the Majors a 1-0 lead.
Senior Allison Tarbox followed her up with a single up the middle to score Joiner and extend the lead. After two walked to sophomore Allyson Christian and freshman Karen McWilliams, senior Jade Hewitt singled to right field to score two and give Millsaps a 4-0 advantage.
Both teams held their own as Jones dominated in the circle as she continued to sit down the Tigers. Millsaps added two more runs in the fourth thanks to a RBI groundout by Joiner followed by a RBI double by Yglesias to make it 6-0.
Millsaps got one in the fifth from a RBI single by Thompson and ended it in the sixth by elimination as McWilliams singled with the bases loaded for the 8-0 win.
Jones spun a gem, going six full innings while giving no runs off two hits while striking out seven and walking one to earn her fifth win of the season.
Thompson led the way offensively going 4-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored while Tarbox, Hewitt, and junior Emily Collins all added two hit games with Hewitt driving in two runs. Yglesias added two RBIs on the day.
In the blink of an eye, the Majors were up 6-0 after the first thanks to a combination of timely hitting by Millsaps and bad defense by the Tigers. With the bases loaded and one out, Christian singled down the left field line to score two and give Millsaps a 2-0 lead. McWilliams followed by reaching on an error to score a run while Hewitt followed her up with a RBI single. The next two batters reached on errors to score two more runs.
After such a great game by Jones, Tyner was next in line as she pitched one of her best games this season, dominating Sewanee. McWilliams, Hewitt, and sophomore Katie Birdwell all added RBIs in the fourth to pull away with the 9-0 win in five innings.
For Tyner, it was her second win of the season as she pitched five innings while only allowing two hits and striking out two.
Offensively, Hewitt added two more RBIs to up her total to four on the day with a 1-for-3 day while Tarbox 3-for-3 on the day with two runs scored. Christian added two RBIs of her own.
The Majors improve to 11-17 overall and 6-4 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. They wrap up their four game series with the Tigers tomorrow afternoon as they meet in a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
