JACKSON, Miss. – The Millsaps baseball team improved to 9-3 in the Southern Athletic Association and 22-8 overall after taking down Oglethorpe 10-4, 12-9, and 8-6 over the weekend at Twenty Field.
The Majors also recognized 16 student-athletes during Senior Day on Saturday. The student-athletes commemorated prior to Game Three were redshirt junior Will Norris, seniors Gray Berry, Remington Bull, Zac Farris, Bradley Pelle, Evan Scott, Tyler Starnes and Nick Tarantino, fifth-year senior Will Cook alongside graduates David Abbadessa, Branyan Bounds, Clay Busby, Jackson Hood, Case Page, Jackson Ware and Wil Wood.
Game 1: Millsaps 10, Oglethorpe 4, W
Millsaps took on the Stormy Petrels in a Friday doubleheader, starting with a 10-4 triumph in Game One.
Senior Bradley Pelle batted 3-for-4, while recording a double, three RBIs, three runs and a hit by pitch.
Classmate Evan Scott recorded a grand slam and hit 2-for-4. He also registered one run and set a Millsaps career-high with five RBIs.
Graduate Jackson Ware also hit 2-for-4, tallying two runs against his conference opponents.
Senior Nick Tarantino pitched in all nine innings and betterd five Oglethorpe pitchers. He struck out five batters, while allowing zero walks and four runs against 11 hits.
The teams remained locked scoreless into the bottom of the fourth inning. Millsaps topped the Stormy Petrels, 1-0 after Pelle doubled to left center, scoring senior Gray Berry from second.
Moments later, Scott hit a single to left field to bring Pelle home and extend the Majors' margin to 2-0.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, Scott kept his hot streak going by hitting a grand slam, propelling the team over Oglethorpe.
In the same inning, Ware scored on a wild pitch to push the Majors ahead, 7-0.
Oglethorpe then led off the seventh with a double and scored on back-to-back home runs, reducing their deficit down to 7-3.
However, Millsaps continued their surge in the bottom of the seventh inning. Pelle singled and reached third on a pair of wild pitches. Graduate
Case Page singled through the left side to bring Pelle across the home plate to increase the lead to 8-3.
In the top of the eighth inning, Oglethorpe scored another run to narrow the contest to 8-4 with an RBI ground out.
The Majors answered back in the bottom of the eighth when Pelle singled home Ware. Oglethorpe's first baseman would also allow graduate David Abbadessa to score on an erroneous throw back to first base, pushing the score to 10-4.
Graduate Branyan Bounds would put the final out away by catching a line out to take down the Stormy Petrels in Game One.
Game 2: Millsaps 12, Oglethorpe 9 (7 inn.), W
The Majors concluded Game Two with a season-high 16 hits and claimed a 12-9 victory in seven innings on Friday.
Pelle (home run, four RBIs, two runs, double, hit by pitch) and Page (two RBIs, two runs, double, stolen base, hit by pitch) each batted 3-for-4.
Berry went 4-for-5, while registering three runs and two RBIs against the Stormy Petrels.
Junior JR Moore (two-RBI home run, two runs, walk), Scott (run) and Ware (one run, one RBI, hit by pitch) each recorded a hit.
Additionally, Abbadessa (RBI), junior Layne Cross (run) and senior Zac Farris went 1-for-1 inside the batter's box.
Redshirt junior Will Norris tossed three scoreless innings on the hill where he struck out three batters against four hits.
Freshman John Montour garnered his first collegiate save with a scoreless seventh and struck out the final batter, giving the Majors a 12-9 triumph.
Oglethorpe took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning following a walk, passed ball, error and double.
In the bottom of the inning, Berry led off with a single through the right side before Pelle doubled down the left line.
After Pelle's double, Page singled through the left side, scoring both runners to tie the contest at 2-2.
Moments later, Moore forced a full count and walked to bring Page home, giving Millsaps their first lead of the contest at 3-2.
Abbadessa then singled with a bunt to Oglethorpe's third baseman, allowing Scott to score from third.
Berry kept the fire going for the Majors with a single up the middle that plated both Bounds and Moore, helping the Majors construct a 6-2 cushion.
However, the Stormy Petrels reclaimed their lead with five runs in the second inning after scoring a run and then hitting a grand slam.
In the bottom of the second inning, Millsaps rallied to tie the contest at 7-7 after Bounds singled through the middle to score Page from second base.
Oglethorpe regained their advantage with a pair of singles and couple of wild pitches in the third.
However, the Majors emerged ahead for the final time with four runs in the fifth.
Moore got the scoring started by blasting his first home run with the Majors, knotting the contest up at 8-8.
Oglethorpe made a pitching change before Pelle launched a three-run home run to push the team past the Stormy Petrels, 11-8.
The visitors continued their resilience by recording their last run of the contest in the sixth.
Millsaps again answered in the bottom half of the sixth when Berry singled and Pelle singled up the middle, helping the Majors further their lead to 12-9.
Montour took the mound in the final inning and struck out the last batter, helping the Majors sweep Oglethorpe in a Friday doubleheader.
Game 3: Millsaps, 8 Oglethorpe 6, W
Millsaps (22-8, 9-3 SAA) secured the sweep over Oglethorpe (15-12, 3-6 SAA) with an 8-6 win during Senior Day on Saturday. The Majors overcame a 5-1 disadvantage and came to life in the second half of the contest.
Berry batted 3-for-4 against the Stormy Petrels. He also recorded two runs, a double and a walk.
Moore recorded his second homer in back-to-back games against Oglethorpe, hitting a two-run shot as a pinch hitter.
Pelle (two runs, RBI) and Scott (two runs, RBI, walk) each registered two hits in Game Three.
Page (RBI, double), junior
EJ Ousley (RBI, stolen base), and Cross (RBI) all boasted one hit against their conference foes.
Junior Stewart Bonnecaze pitched 4.1 innings on the mound. He tied a career-high with six strikeouts against four runs and three walks.
Classmate Sam Thomas saw 3.2 innings, striking out three batters while only allowing one run, zero walks and three hits.
Montour closed out the final inning in scoreless fashion by striking out one batter against two hits.
Oglethorpe homered to center field on the first pitch to take an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Scott flied out to right center with a sacrifice fly to score Pelle and tie the contest at 1-1.
However in the top of the second inning, Oglethorpe scored two runs off a fielder's choice and erroneous throw to move ahead, 3-1.
Oglethorpe extended their lead to 5-1, ushered in by two runs off a hit by pitch, wild pitch, walk and hit.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Millsaps began battling back after a Pelle single and an error by Oglethorpe's pitcher brought Bounds and Berry home.
Moore then stepped in as a pinch hitter in the sixth and crushed a two-run homer to right field, drawing the matchup even at 5-5.
Berry later doubled in the seventh, Pelle then singled and a Page sacrifice fly scored Berry to give the Majors their first lead of the contest at 6-5.
Millsaps continued their momentum when Ousley singled to right center, plating Pelle.
Stepping inside the batter's box next was Cross. He blasted a single to Oglethorpe's shortstop, allowing Scott to score from second base. The Majors now held an 8-5 advantage.
Oglethorpe tallied their second homer of the day to open the eighth frame.
A double-play line out closed out the inning before Montour entered in the top of the ninth.
The Madisonville, La., native secured a strikeout and pair of fly outs to sophomore Wes Grant and Bounds to claim the triumph. Millsaps took down the Stormy Petrels, 8-6 to sweep the SAA series on Saturday.
The Majors will be back in action and host Huntingdon on Wednesday, beginning at 5 p.m.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps College baseball program follow the Majors on X and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook or visit gomajors.com.
Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.
