April 6, 2008

JACKSON – Junior Daniel Ward went a combined 4-for-8 from the plate with a pair of home runs and his team-leading 19th double of the year to pace the Hendrix offense and freshman teammate Jeff Forgerson tossed 6.1 innings of 1-hit ball in the series finale as the visiting Warriors managed a split on Sunday afternoon at Millsaps' Twenty Field.

Hendrix (13-23, 2-10 SCAC) picked up just its second win on the road this season (2-13) as they limited Millsaps to nine hits in a scheduled 7/9 inning doubleheader. The Warriors out-hit the Majors in both contests, cranking out 24 total on the day, including 15 hits in the finale behind three apiece from Eric Mathis and Erik Grafton.

Ward, the league's third-best hitter with a .425 average, waisted little time helping Hendrix get on the scoreboard in Game 1, taking the second pitch he saw from Millsaps starting pitcher Travis Bogue and driving it deep over the left centerfield wall for a 1-0 lead.

The Warriors struck again in the third to increase the lead to 2-0 before the Majors took their first lead of the game after plating three runs in the inning. A leadoff double from senior Derrik Boland followed by an RBI-single from junior Billy Murphy gave Millsaps its first run, as they rallied for two more on a two-out, two-RBI single from Hunter Abrams.

A 3-2 cushion is all Bogue would need the rest of the way to earn the win for Millsaps, surrendering just three hits over the final four innings and picking up four of his seven strikeouts during that span, to improve his season record to 6-3 on the year.

The Majors added solo-shots from freshman Jeremy Aliff and Russ Boyd – both to left – in the fifth to make the final margin 5-2. The homer for Aliff was his first in a Millsaps uniform, while Boyd parked his third of the year and fourth of his career.

Down 3-0 in the series after the Game 1 loss, Hendrix rallied behind its freshman ace pitcher Forgerson (1-1, 3.68 ERA) in the series finale and used 15 hits from the offense to hold on for an 8-5 win despite five errors.

Forgerson tossed the first 6.1 innings of 1-hit ball for Hendrix to give them an edge on the scoreboard, surrendering his lone hit of the game to Quinn Salmon just before he was pulled for Dave Keine. In a highly unusual way of coming within eight outs of throwing a no-hitter, Forgerson and the Warriors only led 5-3 on the scoreboard through six innings after a combination of walks, wild pitches, passed balls and throwing errors allowed Millsaps to cross the plate without recording a hit.

After trailing since the second inning, the Majors finally drew even with a pair of runs in the seventh to knot the game at 5-5, using a sac fly from Murphy and an RBI-single from Salmon sandwiched in between three walks given up from Hendrix.

The Warriors settled in offensively over the final two innings and tacked on three runs off five hits to retake an 8-5 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, before getting out of a bases loaded jam with no outs for the victory.

Millsaps put the first three runners of the inning on base by way of a hit-by-pitch, single and walk but couldn't find a way to cross the plate when it mattered most, going down in order the following three batters to Warriors' reliever Wheeler Gnat.

Gnat and Keine tossed the final 2.2 innings for Hendrix and allowed only two hits and no runs, as Gnat picked up his third save of the year and Keine grabbed the win. Millsaps junior Drew Maddox was hit with the loss after giving up three runs in 3.1 innings of work, relieving starter Brandon Ingram to start the sixth.

The Majors will play their last game of a 12-game homestand and home-finale on Tuesday, April 8, welcoming American Southwest Conference foe Louisiana College to town for a 4 p.m. non-conference affair.