April 28, 2007

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Hendrix third baseman Sara Hunter made a throw across the diamond to teammate Kim Tallent with two outs and runners on the corners in the bottom of the seventh, to hold off an improbable seven-run comeback by Millsaps and send the Warriors to a 12-11 win in Saturday’s first elimination game at Trinity Softball Field.

Millsaps, who trailed by scores of 4-1, 10-5 and 12-5 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, showed why they will be a force to reckon with in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) for years to come, never backing down and falling just one single shy of sending the game to extra frames and a double shy of a come-from-behind win.

The two teams traded runs over the first five innings before the Warriors plated seven unanswered runs, with a five run fifth and a two run sixth, off seven singles and a double to take a commanding 12-5 lead off Kasey Thibodeaux in the circle.

Freshman third baseman Jennifer McKinley {pictured} kept the Majors in the game on a
4-for-5 morning and a pair of home runs to leftfield – a solo shot in the third and a two-run blast in the fifth that still hasn’t landed to tie the game at 5-5 early on.

Jessica Clincy was the spark that jumpstarted the Majors' five-run sixth, beating out Kristin Juarez's throw from short after she had troubles fielding the chopper. From there, Millsaps put together a two-out rally, using a trio of Hendrix miscues and a pair of RBI-singles from McKinley and Douglas to cut the Warriors lead to 12-10.

After a clean seventh in the circle for Thibodeaux, the Majors carried their momentum into the bottom half of the frame by plating a run and cutting the lead to 12-11 on an RBI-single from Manley with two outs. That is, however, as close as Millsaps would get, with the Warriors picking up the game's final out on an infield groundout to close the books.

Behind McKinley's four hits were Erica Douglas (2-for-4), Thibodeaux (2-for-3) and Josie Manley (2-for-4) who accounted for six of the remaining eight hits off Hendrix hurlers Kaylea Cecka and Kim Tallent who split seven innings in the circle.

Despite their second one-run loss in the conference tournament, graduating seniors Renee Hebert and Manley each got the opportunity to close out their Millsaps careers by reaching base safely in their final at-bats. Hebert reached by way of a walk while Manley punched a single through the right side of the infield.

With the loss, Millsaps ends its season at 12-26 and is eliminated from the tournament while Hendrix will advance to face the winner of Rhodes/Centre in the 2 p.m. game.