April 22, 2007

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -- Millsaps cruised out to a 7-2 lead, held off five Oglethorpe runs in the bottom of the eighth and used an RBI-single from centerfielder John Pacillo with two outs in the top of the ninth to edge past the Stormy Petrels, 8-7, and advance to next week’s SCAC Tournament in Georgetown, Texas.

Millsaps (33-9) pounced on Oglethorpe (10-32) for four runs in the first inning, taking advantage of an RBI-single from Pacillo along with two wild pitches and a balk from OU starter Sean Tuttle to plate Jason Hadley, Hunter Abrams and Pacillo for the early 4-0 lead.

The Majors tacked on a single run in the third and two more in the seventh and survived a pair of single runs in the third and fourth frame from the Petrels to take a 7-2 cushion into the bottom of the eighth inning – where things got interesting.

After leadoff batter Tim Ernst reached base safely on an error by the Millsaps first baseman Luke Morrow, the Petrels used an RBI-single from Andrew Llano to cut the gap to 7-3.  Two batters later, what would have been the final out of the inning [when J.J. Rizzo reached on a fielder’s choice and Robert Pavelka was forced out at second] had it not been for the leadoff error, suddenly kept the OU hopes alive with only two away.

The Petrels proceeded to put together a two-out rally that eventually tied the game, using a pinch-hit RBI-single from Brandon McMichael, a two-RBI double from Stephen Archer and an RBI-single from Matt Anderson.

Brent Buffa, Millsaps’ starting pitcher, had allowed just two runs off four hits heading into the final six outs and looked well on his way to the second complete game performance of the season, before OU found a way to plate five runs off five hits and an error to knot the game at 7-7 after eight full innings of play.

After a Hunter Owen walk, sandwiched between a leadoff groundout and a fly out to start the ninth inning, Pacillo stepped up and delivered the game-winning RBI, scoring Owen from second on a single to leftfield.

Freshman middle reliever Bobby Osburn, who entered with two outs and a runner on second in relief of Buffa in the bottom of the eighth, surrendered the game-tying run on Anderson’s single before retiring four of the final six batters he faced for his second win of the season.

Junior right-hander Nick Greenfield (4-5) was hit with the loss for OU, surrendering three runs off two hits over the final three innings, after Tuttle tossed the first six and received a no decision.

With the win, Millsaps takes the best-of-three series, 2-0, over Oglethorpe and becomes the second team to qualify for the SCAC Tournament April 27-29.  They join fellow SCAC West foe and tournament-host Southwestern University as the first two teams to advance.

The final two teams in the four-team field have yet to be determined with Austin and Centre playing a deciding Game 3 and Trinity and Rhodes facing the same fate on Sunday.