BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- On Sunday, the Millsaps College baseball team closed out the opening Southern Athletic Association (SAA) series of the season with a 12-7 victory over the No. 8 Birmingham Southern College Panthers. 

The win gives the the Majors the 2-1 series win, and pushes their overall record to 7-8.

How It Happened
After a pair of scoreless innings to start off the ballgame, Millsaps opened up the scoring in a big way in the top of the 3rd. 

Chris Hart singled, and Jimmy Johnstone reached base via a hit by pitch. The reigning SAA Player of the Week, Fritz Walker III came through with his fourth home run of the season to put the Majors up 3-0. 

Taylor Sullivan pitched a three-up, three-down bottom of the inning, and the offense went right back to worth in the 4th. 

Jon Dale Dieckman doubled to lead off the inning. A couple of batters later Nathan Chilton singled and Sam Pitre walked to load the bases. Hart stepped to the plate and launched the first pitch of the at bat over the right field fence for a grand slam. 

It was the second grand slam of the series for Millsaps, and put the Majors up 7-0. 

The Panthers scratched across one run in the bottom of the 4th, but Millsaps kept the pressure on in the 5th. 

Mark Petkovsek and Chilton each had RBI singles. Later in the inning Petkovsek scored on a passed ball to put the Majors up 10-1.

BSC put up two more runs in their half of the 5th, but Ryan Erwin entered from the bullpen and recorded a flyout to end the inning with Millsaps ahead 10-3.

An Avery Brock RBI single, and Petkovsek hit-by-pitch RBI helped the offense get those runs back in the 6th. 

The Panthers plated one run in the 6th and three runs in the 8th, but the Majors' early lead held strong.

Key Contributors
Erwin pitched 2.1 innings out of the bullpen to pick up his team-leading third win of the season.

What's Next?
Millsaps returns home for a seven-game homestand. First up for the Majors is a three-game series with Berry College. Play gets underway on Saturday with a doubleheader at 12:00 p.m.