February 10, 2008

JACKSON – In his first career collegiate start, freshman Aaron Williams tossed a one-hitter in five innings of work coupled with six strikeouts and D3baseball.com Preseason All-America Hunter Owen dropped two bombs en route to four RBIs to lead Millsaps to an 8-2 win over Rhodes College in the final day of the inaugural Wilson/DeMarini Classic.

The win for Millsaps pushed its record out to 3-0 on the year, the third time in the last four years that they have started out hot, while the loss dropped the SCAC preseason favorite and 28th-ranked Lynx to 0-3 on the early season.

After Williams struck out five of the first eight batters he faced through the first two innings, a home run for Owen (1) to lead off the bottom of the second followed by an RBI-single from Billy Murphy gave the Majors an early 2-0 lead after two.

The Majors tacked on three more runs in the third to push the margin to 5-0, using a two-RBI double from Owen that scored Tony Malaschak and Hunter Abrams and another RBI from the red-hot Quinn Salmon on a sacrifice fly to center.

Sophomore Max Berry relieved Williams to start the sixth for Millsaps, surrendering a pair of runs with two outs off a passed ball and a walk that helped the Lynx cut the margin to 6-2 after 5 1/2 innings.

The Majors plated two more runs in the bottom half of the seventh to make the final score 8-2, using Owen's (2) second solo home run of the game and season followed by an RBI single from senior Derrik Boland three batters later.

Freshman Jason Riggins was credited with the save, tossing the final 3.1 innings while scattering three hits and a pair of strikeouts. Williams earned the win to move to 1-0.

Hunter Chandler was hit with the loss for the Lynx to fall to 0-1 on the early season, surrendering eight hits and six runs (all earned) in 4.0 innings of work. He also struck out two batters on the afternoon in his first career start.

The Majors will wrap up a four-game homestand to start the year on Tuesday, hosting cross-town rival MS College in the opening game of the Cowboy Maloney Trophy Series. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and can be heard live on www.espnradio1240.com and on 1240 AM in the Jackson area.