MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (April 5, 2007) --- The Milligan College Lady Buffs’ softball team captured two wins Thursday afternoon against North Greenville (S.C.) University at Anglin Field. Milligan needed extra innings in the first game to take an 8-6 victory, and the Lady Buffs completed the sweep with a 4-3 win in the second contest. After the two wins, Milligan improves to 23-17 while North Greenville falls to 9-29.

Game 1 Milligan 8 North Greenville 6 (9 Innings)

North Greenville jumped on Milligan early when Allison Bailey drove in Brandy Jackson with a single in the first inning. Bridget Watson scored the second run of the game in the third inning when Milligan’s Kayla Walker (Tracy, Calif.) threw a wild pitch.

Milligan answered with a five run third inning to take the lead over the visiting Lady Crusaders. The inning started with back-to-back singles from Heather Poindexter (Germanton, N.C.) and Walker. Holly Napier (Pennington Gap, Va.) hit a single to drive in Poindexter. After Laken Stewart (Pennington Gap, Va.) struck out, Mallory Tincher (Jacksonville, Fla.) hit a single into centerfield which allowed Walker to score. Megan Aldridge (Johnson City, Tenn.) drew a walk to load the bases. Jessica Blevins (Elizabethton, Tenn.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Napier, but a pair of throwing errors allowed Tincher and Aldridge to make the score 5-2 in favor of Milligan.

North Greenville answered in the top half of the fourth inning. Ashley Bailey and Christina Shin hit back-to-back doubles deep to left field to start the inning. Shin’s double scored Bailey. On the next pitch from Walker, Hope Brewer hit a two-run home run that tied the game 5-5.  

The Lady Buffs regained the lead in their half of the fourth inning when Stewart singled and Poindexter scored Milligan’s sixth run of the game.

A RBI single from Brewer allowed Shin to score in the sixth inning and tie the game once again at 6-6.

After the seventh and eighth innings were scoreless, Jennifer Wise (Clermont, Fla.) ended the contest with her two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Milligan the win. Leah White (Gray, Tenn.) was on second base when Wise hit the game-winning home run.

Wise also picked up the win on the mound. She pitched four innings of shut-out relief and she struck out four.  

North Greenville’s Krista Yeoman suffered the loss after she threw five 1/3 innings in relief. She allowed only one hit and gave up two earned runs. Yeoman also struck out two.

Poindexter finished the contest 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a double. Wise’s home run was her only hit of the contest.

For North Greenville, Bailey, Shin and Brewer each went 2-for-4.

Game 2 Milligan 4 North Greenville 3

North Greenville scored first when Amanda McElveen came home on a single from Shealy Broome in the top of the first.

Milligan bounced back to take the lead from North Greenville in the bottom half of the first inning. Stewart singled and then stole second base. Tincher walked while Aldridge singled. Stewart came in for the first run of the game after Audrey Christmas threw a wild pitch. Blevins then pushed the lead to 3-0 with a double that allowed Tincher and Aldridge to come home.

A home run from Brewer started North Greenville’s second inning. Kayla Farmer followed her with a double. Wise was able to get Bridget Watson and McElveen to ground out only to see Broome deliver a triple to drive in Farmer.

The eventual game-winning run for the Lady Buffs was posted on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. Poindexter led the inning off with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Christmas was able to record two strikeouts but Stewart came through in the clutch with a RBI single to give Milligan the lead.

Stewart finished the contest 3-for-4 with one run scored, a game-winning RBI and a stolen base.

Wise picked up her second victory on the day in the contest to improve her record to 11-5.She allowed two earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts.

Christmas took the loss; she went six innings and allowed four runs on ten hits. Broome finished the second game 3-for-4 with a triple.

Milligan will return to Appalachian Athletic Conference action Wednesday, April 11, when the Lady Buffs travel to Union College for a 2 p.m. doubleheader in Barbourville, Ky.