JACKSON, Miss. – The Millsaps baseball team dropped a heartbreaker to Belhaven in Game Three of the Cowboy Maloney Series, 8-7 at Twenty Field on Tuesday.

Senior Austin Arceneaux batted 2-for-3, walked twice and scored two runs. Junior Jackson Ware hit 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Additionally, classmate Case Page (1-for-2) tallied three walks and two runs.

Freshman starting pitcher Ryan Laiche threw 4.2 innings, while holding Belhaven to two earned runs, two walks and six hits. Sophomore Nick Tarantino pitched 2.1 innings of relief where he struck out two Blazers. He yielded three hits, one walk and allowed just one run.

Belhaven scored a run to open the contest in the first inning. The Blazers would add two tallies in the fifth and one in the top of the sixth to make it a 4-0 lead.

However, the Majors would rally right back and tie the game with four runs in their half of the sixth. Millsaps loaded the bases and Ware sailed a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Page. Senior Branyan Bounds forced a bases-loaded walk for the second run of the frame. Junior David Abbadessa then doubled home freshman EJ Ousley and Bounds for the tying scores.

The Majors continued to find a groove, tallying three runs in the seventh to build a 7-4 advantage. Ousley began the scoring with a bases-loaded bunt to bring home senior Sam Pitre. Ware followed with an RBI single to score Page. Bounds later forced an error on the Belhaven shortstop to push Arceneaux across the plate.
 
Belhaven would score four runs in the top of the ninth to recapture the lead at 8-7. With one out, the Blazers hit three singles to bring home the first score. A fielder's choice and single up the middle tied the game before the eighth run was scored on an infield hit.
 
Arceneaux led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and reached scoring position moments later on a sacrifice bunt. A fly out and strike out ended the comeback attempt in the back-and-forth contest.

The Majors will now return to Twenty Field to host No. 1 Birmingham-Southern for a three-game SAA series, beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Live video and live stats will be provided at gomajors.com.
 
 
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