JACKSON, Miss. -- On Wednesday evening the Millsaps College baseball team made the short drive to Smith-Wills Stadium for the first game of the 2019 Cowboy Maloney Series with cross-town rival Belhaven. 

The Blazers dominated the early innings of the ballgame before a furious 8th inning comeback by the Majors made things interesting. Unfortunately Belhaven was able to answer with 5 runs in their half of the 8th inning to pull away for the 13-7 win. 

The loss drops Millsaps to 3-12 overall, while Belhaven improves to 6-7.

The Majors will now look to win the remaining two matchups between these two schools in order to capture the Cowboy Maloney Trophy for a fourth consecutive season.

How It Happened
The Blazers got things going early when they plated a run on a RBI single in the bottom of the 1st inning. 

Trailing 1-0, the Millsaps offense had the answer in the top of the 2nd.

Jimmy Fondren was hit by a pitch to lead things off, and Mason Little followed with a walk to put two runners on. Both runners advanced on a passed ball, and Chris Hart came through with a RBI ground out that scored Fondren to tie the game at 1-1. 

Unfortunately, the Belhaven offense put up 3 runs in the 2nd, and 2 more in the 4th to take a 6-1 lead after 5 full innings. 

In the top of the 6th Millsaps got a run when Jon Dale Dieckman scored on a Hart RBI single to make it 6-2, but the Blazers got that run right back on a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning. 

They then added a run in the 7th to move ahead 8-2. It was there in the top of the 8th inning that the Millsaps offense opened up and really made things interesting. 

With 1 out in the inning Alan Merkle doubled and advanced to third on a Belhaven error. Nathan Chilton and Hart each drew a walk to load the bases. After Will Neely drew the bases loaded walk to plate Merkle Belhaven went to the bullpen for a pitching change. Brayden Stensaas greeted the new pitcher with a bases clearing double which made it 8-6. Unfortunately, the Millsaps rally ended there. 

The Blazers answered with 5 runs of their own in the bottom of the 8th to make it 13-6. 

The Majors scored a run when Hart reached on a fielder's choice in the top of the 9th, but Belhaven was able to strand 2 runners in scoring position to pull out the 13-7 win. 

Key Contributors
Merkle led the way with a pair of hits in his 3 at bats, while Hart and Stensaas tied for a team-high 3 RBIs each.

What's Next?
The Majors will be right back in action at Twenty Field this weekend when they host Birmingham-Southern in Southern Athletic Association (SAA) play. The series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. First pitch of game one is set for 2:00 p.m.