JACKSON, Miss.—After being on the road for nearly a month, the Millsaps softball team finally returned to Jackson for four non-conference games to wrap up its 2019 regular season. They kicked off the homestand with a pair of games against in-state foe, the Mississippi University for Women. 
 
Game one went to extras where Kendall Carder's push bunt single scored Jordan Lipari from second, giving the Majors a 3-2 win. The Owls took game two, 8-2, after five errors plagued the Millsaps defense.  
 
Game One
 
Millsaps got on the board in the first inning. Lipari led off with a single, moved to second on Carder's bunt single and then scored on back-to-back sacrifice bunts to put the Majors ahead 1-0. 
 
Majors starter Karley Williams kept MUW off the board until the third when the Owls tied it up on an RBI groundout. 
 
Both teams would put up zeroes until the bottom of the fifth, when Millsaps pulled ahead. Leslie Norris led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a sac bunt and scored on Carder's RBI single. 
 
A single followed by back-to-back errors opened the door for MUW to tie things in the top of the seventh and the Majors went down in order to force extras. 
 
In the eighth, it looked as though MUW would take the lead after the runner on second advanced to third and tried to score on a passed ball. But catcher Karlie Galloway fired a bullet to new pitcher Shauna Blady, who was covering home, and Blady made the tag for the out, keeping the game tied and setting up Carder's walkoff bunt. 
 
Blady picked up the win for Millsaps, pitching the eighth and allowing just one walk. Williams pitched a gem, giving up six hits with no earned runs while striking out four. 
 
Carder led the way offensively, going 4-4 with a pair of RBI. Lipari, Norris and Hailey Pearson had the other hits for Millsaps. 
 
Game Two
 
MUW put up a three spot in the second and third innings off starter Amber Funderburk, to jump out to an early 6-0 lead. In those innings, the Majors defense committed four of their five errors, leading to the runs. 
 
MUW added two more in the sixth to take an 8-0 lead and it looked like the game might end early due to the mercy rule. But, with one out in the bottom of the sixth, Mackenzie Johnson and Emily Cook both singled, Johnson scored on a Lipari single and Cook scored on a Carder double, to extend the game and cut into the lead. Ty Bergeron singled in the bottom of the seventh, but that was all the Majors could muster as the Owls escaped with a game two win. 
 
Funderburk took the loss, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and walking five. She also had five strikeouts. 
 
Bergeron was 4-4 in game two while Carder had a pair of hits and an RBI.       
 
What's Next
 
The Majors will wrap up their 2019 regular season on Friday with a doubleheader against Hinds Community College. First pitch is scheduled for 5pm.