JACKSON, Miss. (Apr. 15, 2017) – After a wild back and forth first game that saw second-ranked Birmingham-Southern College outlast Millsaps College, 13-12, the Majors came back behind some strong pitching in the second game to hand the Panthers a 4-1 setback. Junior Jacob Mardick (The Woodlands, Texas) tossed a complete game in the nightcap to give Millsaps the split of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) doubleheader.
 
Game 1
Birmingham-Southern (29-6, 16-2 SAA) picked up a run in the first inning of game one, but Millsaps (16-20, 7-10 SAA) came back to take the lead with three in the fourth. A pair of hits opened the inning for the Majors; with the first run coming in on a throwing error on a double steal. Senior Seth Trulock (Taylorsville, Ill.) then lofted a sac fly to left before junior Andy Page (Warrenton, Va.) added an RBI single to make it 3-1.
 
Millsaps added an unearned run in the fifth before Birmingham-Southern scored twice in the sixth on back-to-back home runs by Tyler Wise and Tyler Hamel to make it 4-3. The Majors got one of the runs back in its half of the inning, but the Panthers struck for nine runs in the seventh to move on top.
 
Three straight hits started the inning for the Panthers, with A.J. Hunt tying the game with a double to right. BSC went on to collect four more hits in the inning and took advantage of three Millsaps errors to score seven more times to take a 12-5 lead.
 
In the bottom of the eighth it was Millsaps turn at a big inning, with the Majors pushing across six runs to get back into the game. The big blow was a three-run home run off the bat of junior Wes Lassere (Thibodaux, La.) that completed the uprising and made it a 12-11 game.
 
Birmingham-Southern added an insurance run in the ninth on a sac fly by Hunt, but Millsaps came back in the bottom half of the inning, putting a pair on via a hit batter and a walk. With two away senior Lee Ogletree (Raymond, Miss.) drew a walk to load the bases before a wild pitch brought in Page to make it a one-run game. The Panthers recovered, however, as reliever Rich Misischia retired the next hitter on a ground out to end it.
 
Game 2
Millsaps broke on top in the second game in the second when Ogletree led off with a single, was sacrificed to second and then scored on a double by Lassere. In the third the Majors added three more. They opened the inning with a single and a walk, with both runners moving up on a sacrifice. Junior Chase Callaway (Brandon, Miss.) then doubled to right center to score both runners before he came around to score on a double by sophomore Brennan Ducote (Lafayette, La.).
 
That was all the support that Mardick would need as he allowed just four hits over the seven-inning game, striking out a pair. The only damage that Birmingham-Southern could do was in the fourth when Misischia led off with a single and came around to score on a triple to center by Sam Roberts.
 
Lassere led the Millsaps offense over the two games, going a combined 4-for-7 with four RBI. Ogletree had five hits and scored three times, while Page contributed four hits, two RBI, and three runs scored.
 
Millsaps will finish its home schedule next Tuesday, April 18 when the Majors will host Rhodes College in a non-conference matchup starting at 7:00 p.m. at Twenty Field.