MILLSAPS SWEEPS SCAC ROAD SERIES VERSUS RHODES

The Millsap Majors continue to impress as they completed a key three-game SCAC sweep this weekend (3/20-3/21/04) at Rhodes, winning by counts of 6-5, 8-6, and 7-3. Millsaps has now won eight consecutive games and are tied with Trinity (10-2) atop the SCAC West. Trinity is 18-2 overall with their only two losses coming against Millsaps. The Majors improved their 2004 slate to an outstanding 18-5.

The first game on Saturday was played at Christian Brothers College with Millsaps batting in the home half. The game was originally scheduled in Jackson but that plan was nixed by Mother Nature.

The Majors showed their come-from-behind ability as the Lynx led 3-0 after 2 ½ innings. They scored two in the third thanks to a Ben Wilson RBI single and a Matt Renna RBI ground-out. Rhodes came right back with two in the sixth to re-establish their three-run cushion at 5-2.

The Majors then tied it in their half of the sixth with three runs. Wilson and Renna again had RBI on grounders and Joe Thrash tied it with an RBI single.

It stayed that way until the ninth when the Ryan Skertich came up big in dramatic fashion. With one out, Skertich launched a big fly and the pseudo home-field advantage paid off as the Majors celebrated joyously at home plate.

Starter Jon Fox battled all day as he pitched 8 2/3 innings, allowing only two earned runs. Tal Hendrix (3-0) struck out the only batter he faced as he picked up the win. Jeff France (2-3) took the loss for Rhodes.

The teams moved back to the Rhodes campus for the second half of the double-dip but the results were the same as the Majors won another close one in a seven inning contest.

It looked like a laugher early as Millsaps had starter Travis Eckle seeing double, erupting for five runs in the third. The inning started innocently enough as the first two Majors were retired. The visitors then strung together five consecutive hits, the last four being doubles, as the merry-go-round was in full swing. In the inning, Staines had a two-RBI double, followed by RBI doubles from Stu Phillips, Ben Wilson, and Garner Wetzel.

The Majors made it 8-1 in the fifth, courtesy of a Wetzel two-RBI triple and a Thrash RBI ground-out. Rhodes came right back with four in the fifth and one in the sixth to cut the margin to 8-6., but the Lynx would get no closer.

Lefty Stephen Kirkpatrick (3-1) went five innings to pick up the win. Closer Tal Hendrix pitched two innings to pick up his fifth save. Eckle (4-3) took the loss.

Wetzel and Staines led the offensive charge for Millsaps, going 2 for 4 with three RBI and 3 for 4 with two RBI, respectively.

Game three on Sunday turned out to be another come-from-behind effort for the Majors. Trailing 3-2 after six in the nine inning game, the Majors went ahead for good with three in the seventh and added two more for good measure in the eighth.

In the seventh, Skertich led off with a single and proceeded to pilfer second and third. After a base on balls, Ben Wilson laid down a perfect RBI sacrifice bunt, plating Skertich and knotting the game at three. The weekend trend of extra-base hits continued as Wetzel drove in the go-ahead run with a triple and Renna followed with an RBI double.

The eighth inning provided insurance in the form of a Staines' RBI single and a Phillips' RBI groundout.

Todd Kindler (4-1) was outstanding on the hill as he pitched eight innings, allowing just five hits and two earned runs. Freshman Jason Brown pitched a scoreless ninth for the Majors. Jeff France (2-4) took the loss for Rhodes.

Millsaps was paced offensively by Wilson and Wetzel, who each went 2 for 4 with two RBI. Other multiple hitters for the Majors were Skertich (2 for 4) and Renna (2 for 5).

The Majors now return home for a six-game home-stand, beginning with Huntingdon on Thursday (3/25), followed by a three-game SCAC series with Southwestern. Millsaps took two from Southwestern in Georgetown TX earlier this year.

Then it's on to Cowboy Maloney Series play as the Majors host Belhaven on March 30 and Mississippi College on April 1. The series records to date are-Mississippi College (3-0), Millsaps (1-1), and Belhaven (0-3).