2008 Millsaps Baseball Schedule

January 8, 2008

JACKSON – Entering his 20th season as the skipper of the Majors, head coach Jim Page announced today the 2008 Millsaps baseball schedule, complete with games against NCAA Division III World Series runner-up Emory University and D-I foe Jacksonville State.

The 40-game slate (21 away, 19 home) features Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) opponents Piedmont College, LaGrange College and Huntingdon College, coupled with first-time challenger Wabash University (Ind.) out of the North Coast Athletic Conference.

The 2008 season opens on Feb. 8 at Twenty Field with a four-game homestand during the Wilson/DeMarani Classic, hosting LaGrange, University of the Ozarks and Rhodes College. There will be two games played each day with the winner being crowned on Sunday in the inaugural tournament.

The Cowboy Maloney Series, a three-game trifecta with Belhaven and MS College, gets underway just two days after the final game of the DeMarani Classic on Feb. 12, with the Majors playing the Choctaws at 6 p.m. Millsaps has won the trophy the previous two seasons and will be looking to retain the hardware this season.

From there, Millsaps will play 16 of its next 19 games on the road, including a two-game stint with national runner-up Emory University (Feb. 16, 17) and a four-game series with SCAC nemesis Austin College (March 14-16) in Sherman, Texas, to open SCAC play.

The Majors split with the Eagles last season, falling 5-1 before a 12-2 bounce back win the following day thanks in part to seven strong innings from junior lefthander Travis Bogue. Against the 'Roos, the SCAC representative in the NCAA Division III tournament, Millsaps split a four-game set in Jackson before falling in the opening round and championship game of the SCAC Tournament in Georgetown, Texas.

Millsaps welcomes an eight-game road swing across four states on Feb. 26, opening at Jacksonville State (2), followed by games at LaGrange (3) and MS College and the Rhodes Classic against Wabash University and the host Lynx.

"What I like is we'll have a lot of new faces and it will be a good opportunity for them to bond and get to know each other," Page said.

After the two-week long road trip, Millsaps will entertain a 12-game homestand opening on March 18 at 4 p.m. with Illinois Wesleyan, the longest such stretch in the Page era. The stand will continue with games against non-conference opponents Belhaven College, MS College and Louisiana College along with important league games against Southwestern University (4) and Hendrix College (4).

"Our conference schedule is always tough," Page said. "On top of that, adding a Division I school in Jacksonville State University is exciting. We're very fortunate to have the opportunity to play them and I know our guys will really be looking forward to that."

A trip to San Antonio April 11-13 against Trinity University will wrap up the SCAC slate, while the final game of the Maloney Series against Belhaven on April 15 will close out the regular season schedule. Millsaps won 3 of 4 games from the Tigers last season.

The SCAC Divisional Playoffs are set for April 18-20 at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn., the second season of the newly added format. The Majors swept a two-game set with Oglethorpe University last season by scores of 12-1 (7) and 8-7.

The SCAC Championships will take place in Danville, Ky., on the campus of Centre College from April 25-27, with the winner of the tournament receiving the automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

Millsaps finished the 2007 season ranked 30th in the final ABCA Poll with a 35-11 mark.