JACKSON, MS- Millsaps and Rhodes traded dramatic wins on Sunday with the Majors winning 8-7 in 10 innings in game two after dropping game one 5-3.
Game One Box
The two teams traded runs all game long over the course of the double header. In the first inning, Millsaps answered an early Rhodes run with a Hannah Dogget RBI double. The teams stayed tied until the fifth when Rhodes broke through for two runs to take a 3-1 lead.
The Majors answered again in the sixth with two runs of their own. Hannah Doggett scored on a passed ball after earning a lead-off walk. Two pitches later, Katelyn Murray scored on a Lexi Barron ground out, Murray was hit by a pitch and Millsaps scored twice without a hit.
Rhodes would go ahead for good in the seventh when Makenzie Martin hit a two-run home run that just got over the left field wall. The Majors went quietly in the seventh as Danielle Faucheux took the tough-luck loss.
In the finale of the series, Millsaps won on a walk-off single in the 10th from Kathryn Romero, who went 5-5 on the day.
The Lynx and Majors continued trading runs in the second game, keeping the theme of the entire weekend. Rhodes scored in the top of the first inning, using a hit batter, steal and single to push across a run.
It stayed 1-0 until the third when Martin singled home another run for the Lynx to make it 2-0. The Majors stormed back, scoring three in the bottom of the frame. Rayne Gravat doubled home a run, then a sac fly from Doggett and a single from Faucheux put the Majors up 3-2.
Rhodes tied the game an inning later on a single, but ran themselves out of a bigger inning. A strong relay throw from Missy Romero nailed Caroline Reilly at the plate and held the Lynx to just tying the game at three.
The teams continued to go punch for punch with Millsaps getting a bases loaded walk to Lexi Barron to go up 4-3 in the fourth, only to have Rhodes tie it again in the fifth. The Lynx took the lead again 5-4 in the seventh on a double from Rachel Pewitt. But again Rhodes ran themselves out of a bigger inning, having two runners thrown out at third in the frame.
In the bottom of the seventh, Katelyn Murray battled to a 10-pitch at-bat, doubling down the left-field line with two outs. Kaitlyn Casias followed with a big, game-tying single. Megan Murray followed with a double off the left field wall but Casias was thrown out trying to score, we went to extras tied 5-5.
Neither team could do anything in the eighth, with each team hitting into a double play to end the inning. In the ninth, Caroline Sutton singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch as Rhodes took a 6-5 lead. It didn't last long, Rayne Gravat hit a towering home run that hit off the top of the wall and over to re-tie the game and send the game to tie-breaker rules.
In the 10th, each team started with a runner on second base. Rhodes pushed across a run with a two-out single to take a 7-6 lead. Missy Romero returned the favor with a two-out single up the middle to tie the game. Romero then stole second and scored on Kat Romero's single down the right field line.
Cassidy DeNoon went all 10 innings for the Majors. The freshman battled, allowing seven runs (six earned) and 18 hits but struck out four and routinely got big outs all game long.
The Majors now sit at 14-6 overall and 7-6 in the SAA after the weekend split. They will travel to Georgia next weekend to take on the Berry Vikings. The four-game series starts Friday, first pitch is at noon central time.
