JACKSON, Miss. -- The Millsaps College baseball team returned home on Saturday afternoon for a non-conference matchup with the Millikin University Big Blue.

The Majors scored first, but were forced to fight back and retake the lead in the middle innings. In the end, Millsaps was able to hold off a late Millikin rally to secure the 9-8 win.

It is the second victory in a row for the Majors, who now stand at 4-5 overall on the season.

How It Happened
Freshman Wil Wood got the start on the mound for Millsaps, and he was able to keep Millikin off the scoreboard for the first four innings. 

The offense took advantage of an error in the bottom of the 3rd to score the game's first run. Mark Petkovsek led off the inning with a single. He later scored a ball that was misplayed by the Millikin pitcher. 

Unfortunately the Millikin bats caught fire in the 5th, as they scored four runs on five two-out hits to take a 4-1 lead. 

However, the Majors had a big answer in the bottom half of the inning. 

Petkovsek was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. After Jackson Hailey drew a walk, Chris Hart laid down a sacrifice bunt. The Big Blue recorded an out on the play, but the ball kicked away at first which allowed Petkovsek to score and Hailey to advance to third base. In the very next at bat Sam Pitre came through with a single to score Hailey for his first collegiate RBI.

Millsaps was not done there. They took advantage of two more Millikin errors to score two more runs, and retake the lead at 6-4.

Both sides went scoreless in the 6th, but the Big Blue rallied for three runs in their half of the 7th to move ahead 7-6. 

In the bottom half of the inning the Majors responded with three runs of their own to take a lead that they would not relinquish. Jon Dale Dieckman and Mason Little both had RBI base hits in the inning to help Millsaps pull ahead 9-7. 

Ryan Erwin, who had entered from the bullpen in the top of the 7th, held Millikin scoreless in the 8th, and worked out of a jam in the top of the 9th to secure the 9-8 win for the Majors.

Key Contributors
Little, who made his season debut, and Dieckman each had a pair of RBIs for Millsaps. Meanwhile Fritz Walker III and Dieckman both had multiple hits.

Erwin pitched the final 3.0 innings. He recorded three strikeouts en route to his second win of the season.

What's Next?
The Majors return to Twenty Field tomorrow afternoon for a matchup with the Southwestern University Pirates. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.