Baseball
 

April 18, 2009

Trinity Loses Late Lead as Millsaps Earns Split

Jackson, Mississippi - The Millsaps College Majors, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III, edged the Trinity University Tigers 10-9 Saturday in the second half of a SCAC doubleheader Saturday at Twenty Field.

Trinity, which upset Millsaps 8-4 in Saturday’s opening game, completed the regular season with a 21-19 overall record and 11-9 SCAC  mark. Millsaps stood at 32-6 and 15-5 SCAC, and won the season series 3-2.       

But, the Tigers are certainly not through with the season. Trinity, the defending SCAC champion, will compete in the six-team, double-elimination tournament – hosted by Millsaps – next Thursday through April 26. The Tigers, who earlier qualified for the event, are currently in second place behind Millsaps in the SCAC West Division. Trinity’s tournament seeding will depend on the outcome of the Southwestern-Hendrix series, which concludes Sunday.

Saturday’s second game was definitely a see-saw affair, beginning with Millsaps on the board with two runs in the first inning. The Tigers scored a run in the top of the second inning, as senior catcher Steven Ramos scored on an error, after a stolen base. The Majors scored a run in each of the second and third innings, top lead 4-1.

Ramos hit a SAC fly and sophomore right fielder Dylan Early had RBI on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning, as the Tigers scored two runs. Millsaps responded with two runs and led 6-3 after four innings. In the fifth, the Tigers closed the gap with one run, on an RBI by senior left fielder Jordan Pennington. Trinity tied the score at 6-6, with two runs in the sixth. Early scored on an interference call and Ramos, who stole third, crossed the plate on a catcher’s error. Millsaps then led 7-6 with a run in the bottom of the inning.

The Tigers, though, had a lot of fight left as they scored three runs in the eighth inning. Sophomore center fielder John Paillet doubled to right center for two RBIs, and Pennington hit a double down the right field line.

But Millsaps countered with three runs in the eighth and put the Tigers out in order in the ninth.

Tiger sophomore third baseman Kevin Jackson batted 4-6 and two runs, along with three stolen bases. Felix went 3-4 with one run scored. Ramos was 2-4 with an RBI and one run. Paillet hit 2-5 with two RBIs and scored two runs. Early batted 2-4 with an RBI and two runs.

Junior right-hander Mike Hunter was the first of four Tigers pitchers. Junior right-handed pitcher Eric Binder (1-4) hurled the final 2 1/3 innings and took the loss.

Trinity scored nine runs, on 18 hits, with two errors and 10 players left on base. Millsaps had 10 runs, with 10 hits, two errors and seven players on base.