JACKSON, Miss. (Apr. 14, 2017) – Second ranked Birmingham-Southern scored four times in the sixth inning to break open a close contest, going on to take an 11-3 win over Millsaps College in the first game of a Southern Athletic Association (SAA) baseball series. Senior
Seth Trulock (Taylorsville, Ill.) had a pair of hits and drove in two runs for the Majors.
Birmingham-Southern (28-5, 15-1 SAA) broke on top in the third when, with runners on first and third, Tyler Hamel doubled to center to score both runs. Preston White then followed with another double to make it 3-0. The Panthers then increased their lead to 5-0 in the fourth when A.J. Hunt hit a two-run home run off the top of the fence in center.
Millsaps (15-19, 6-9 SAA) came back and made it a tight game in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three times to make it a two-run contest. One-out singles by senior
Lee Ogletree (Raymond, Miss.) and junior
Chase Callaway (Brandon, Miss.) set up a run scoring double by sophomore
Brennan Ducote (Lafayette, La.) that scored the first run for the Majors. After a strikeout, Trulock singled to left to score two more and make it 5-3.
That was as close as the Majors would get, however, as the Panthers took advantage of a pair of errors in the sixth to score four times. Birmingham-Southern loaded the bases with no outs before a catcher's interference call allowed the first run to score. Tyler Wise followed with an RBI single, with Jack Rhodes adding a two-run single to complete the scoring.
Millsaps picked up only one more hit the rest of the way, as Birmingham-Southern pitching held the Majors in check over the final four innings. Ryan Gaines started and improved to 8-0 on the season, allowing the three runs in the fourth on a total of 10 hits over six innings. Easton Fuller threw the final three innings and picked up a save after retiring all nine hitters he faced.
In addition to Trulock, Ogletree and Callaway also had a pair of hits for Millsaps. Hamel led Birmingham-Southern with three hits and a pair of RBI.
Millsaps and Birmingham-Southern will complete the series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at Noon at Twenty Field.
