JACKSON – Taking advantage of mistakes made by the University of the Ozarks, Millsaps College cruised to a doubleheader sweep of the Eagles on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon to claim all three games in the season-opening series at Twenty Field.
In the opening game, the Majors scored seven runs in the second inning on their way to an 11-1 seven-inning victory over the Eagles from the University of the Ozarks.
Game two of the doubleheader saw Millsaps rally from an early deficit to earn a convincing non-conference win, 15-9.
The Majors got things started in the second inning of game one with three straight singles to load the bases until freshman
Kevin Wall cleared the bases with a hit aided by an Ozarks error for a 3-0 lead.
Tyler Berry and
Josh Ordeneaux added RBI doubles in the inning as Millsaps scored seven runs to take command of the game.
This would be all the run support starting pitcher
Shelby Robertson would need as he shut down the Eagles’ hitters allowing just two hits and one run in 4 2/3 innings of work for his first win of the season.
The Majors added two runs in the fourth and sealed the victory in the seventh with a homerun by
Jules Roussel and an RBI single by Ordeneaux, who finished with three hits and three RBIs in the outing.
Freshman
Elliot Varney started game two for Millsaps and allowed three first-inning runs on four hits before settling down to limit Ozarks to one hit in the next two innings.
Millsaps tied the game 3-3 in the bottom half of the second inning when
Drew Leonard scored on a run-down after doubling home two runners earlier in the inning.
The Majors took a 4-3 lead in the third inning before the Eagles scored two in the top of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Millsaps responded with two run of its own taking advantage of costly Ozarks’ walks and hit batters to reclaim a 6-5 advantage.
Millsaps broke the game wide open in the bottom of the seventh inning scoring six runs with patience at the plate and smart base running.
Ordeneaux led the way with three of the Majors’ seven stolen bases in the game as Millsaps held on for the 15-9 victory.
Zack Snider recorded his first collegiate victory in relief of Varney as the Majors’ bullpen stymied the Ozarks’ hitters for the third straight game.
The Majors finished the weekend stealing 16 bases on 18 attempts while taking 25 base-on-balls and having nine batters hit by pitches.
With the three-game sweep, Millsaps improves to 3-0 on the season, while Ozarks falls to 0-3.
Millsaps will take its perfect record on the road next Tuesday for a non-conference game against Huntingdon College starting at 4 p.m.