April 18, 2007

JACKSON -- In the decisive Game 6 in the race for the Maloney Series Trophy, Millsaps jumped on top of Belhaven 10-3 through the first four innings and survived six unanswered runs from the Blazers over the final five frames, to stretch its season-long winning streak to eight games and hoist the Maloney Trophy for the second consecutive year.

Belhaven (36-12, 19-5 GCAC) took advantage of a passed ball given up by Russ Boyd just three batters into the game, allowing Blaise King to score from third after reaching base safely on a leadoff walk, for the 1-0 lead.

Millsaps (31-9, 12-4 SCAC) responded with a Nick Crawford RBI-single in the bottom of the second frame to knot the game at 1-1 before the Majors plated six runs in the third and three in the fourth to take a commanding 10-3 lead.



The first time these two teams met back on Feb. 20 at Twenty Field, it was almost deja vu, with the Majors jumping out to an 8-2 lead after four innings just to see the Blazers cross the plate eight times in the top of the fifth to retake the lead at 10-8.

That game ended with a heroic finish when senior outfielder John Pacillo sent the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth inning to straight-away center for the walk-off home run and a 16-15 Millsaps win.

Tuesday's game had all the makings of an impressive finish and a possible payback for Belhaven after the Blazers cut the gap to 10-9 in the top of the ninth on an RBI-groundout from Ricky Owens, and RBI-double from Shawn Anderson down the leftfield line and an RBI-single from Buddy Wyrick in almost the exact same spot.


Brent Buffa, who allowed only four hits and no runs through the first 3 1/3 innings he pitched in relief of starting pitcher Tait Hendrix, found himself in an unusual and uncomfortable situation in the ninth.

After the leadoff batter reached on a fielding error by Justin Carter, Thomas Royals doubled down the leftfield line to put runners on second and third with no outs. From there, Buffa got Bryan Bennett to go down on strikes and Owens to groundout to the shortstop before Anderson's RBI-double and Wyrick's RBI-single gave the Blazers new life.

Freshman Bobby Osburn was called in from the bullpen to record the final out, forcing designated hitter Joe Scalzo to go down on strikes for the third time of the night for his team-leading third save of the season.

Hendrix (2-1) was credited with the win on the evening, striking out six while scattering four hits and five unearned runs over 4 2/3 innings of work. Young (7-1) was hit with his first loss of the season for Belhaven, surrendering seven runs off nine hits in only 2 2/3.

Crawford, Boyd, Pacillo, Carter, Derrik Boland and Jason Hadley each notched multi-hit games with Hadley recording his team-leading 17th of the season.

Millsaps will be back in action this weekend, traveling to Millington, Tenn., to face off with Oglethorpe University in the SCAC Divisional Playoff April 20-22.