MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (March 18, 2007) --- The Milligan College Lady Buffs’ softball team picked up two more wins Sunday afternoon over Region XII foe Indiana University-Southeast. The Lady Buffs won the opening game 6-1 and then finished the sweep with an 8-0 win.  Milligan improves to an overall record of 14-12 while IU Southeast falls to 5-5.

Game 1 Milligan 6 IU-Southeast 1

IU-Southeast jumped in front when Kate Vanosdol drove in Brittney Williams with a single in the first inning for what turned out to be their only run of the game.

Milligan answered and tied the contest in the bottom half of the first inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Melanie Strickler (Kingsport, Tenn.) singled to push Leah Fritts (Knoxville, Tenn.) across home.

In the fifth inning, Jessica Blevins (Elizabethton, Tenn.) reached on a walk and Leah White (Gray, Tenn.) followed with a bunt single. Strickler moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt and Heather Poindexter (Germanton, N.C.) singled which allowed Blevins to score and give Milligan a 2-1 lead. Maegan Hambrick (Lexington, Ky.) had entered the game to pitch and in her first at bat she connected for a three-run home run, the first of her collegiate career.

Megan Aldridge (Johnson City, Tenn.) singled to lead off in the sixth inning and pinch-runner Jessica Russell (New Market, Tenn.) entered the game for her. Russell stole second and then moved to third after a passed ball. White then hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Russell and make the score 6-1 in favor of Milligan.

Hambrick (4-1) picked up the win on the mound after pitching 2 2/3 innings of shut-out relief. She allowed two hits and struck out two. The win was the third straight win for Hambrick earning two wins Saturday against King (Tenn.) College.

Poindexter and Aldridge each collected two hits for the Lady Buffs to go along with Hambrick’s three-run home run.

Brooke Martin pitched 4 1/3 innings in her start for IU-Southeast and she allowed five runs on nine hits. 

Game 2 Milligan 8 IU-Southeast 0 (5 Innings)

A four-run first inning gave the Lady Buffs the lead and control for the second contest. White drew a bases loaded walk to score Fritts. Junior pitcher Jennifer Wise (Clermont, Fla.) helped her cause with a double into leftfield which allowed Aldridge and Blevins to come home. White then scored on a single from Poindexter.

The next two runs of the game came from Aldridge with a pair of solo home runs, in the second and fourth innings. Her six home runs so far during the 2007 season lead the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

Two more Milligan runs in the bottom of the fifth scored on a throwing error made the final score 8-0.

Wise pitched a complete-game shut out to improve her record to 5-4. She allowed two hits, struck out two and walked one.

Aldridge finished the contest 3-for-3 with two solo home runs, three runs scored and three RBIs.

Brittany Bennett suffered the loss on the mound for IU-Southeast and Kate Vanosdol and SaraRose Hornung each went 1-for-2 at the plate.

The Lady Buffs will host Walters State (Tenn.) Community College for a pair of exhibition games Tuesday, March 20, at Anglin Field. The first game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.