10:57 am Lady Buffs split with Brevard in home opener
By Gene Renfro
Milligan College softball opened the home portion of the schedule Tuesday with a split against Brevard (N.C.) College.
The Lady Buffs were a 7-2 winner in game two after Brevard won an 8-7 eight-inning contest.
“That first ballgame I feel like we didn’t defend very well, but our bats were good all day long,” Milligan head coach Wes Holly said. “We were able to come back there and win the second after making some changes.”
Game two saw Milligan, now 3-5 on the season, open the scoring early thanks to Brevard miscues. Overall, the Lady Buffs posted a pair of runs in the home half of the first to grab the advantage.
From there, Milligan scored four more in the next two innings — which included a solo home run and two-run triple from Emily Biggs.
Camille Olvey, Maleah Wolfenbarger and Biggs all finished with two hits each. Biggs drove in three and scored twice.
Sierra Plese went six innings and picked to improve to 1-0. She struck out three and allowed four hits.
In game one, the homeside got on the board when Krista Lambdin knocked her second home run of the season to left in the fifth — which started a Milligan rally. She struck again with a RBI double off the center-field fence in the sixth with two on thanks to a pair of Brevard errors. Later in the inning, Unaka graduate Lacey Huskins singled on the right side of the infield to drive in Plese. Olvey then singled to center to push across two scores to tie the game at 6-6.
The eighth inning saw the visitors use a groundout followed by a single to right by Brittany Fowler to put Brevard back in front 7-6. Kayla Clemens then drove in Chelsi Mallory with a double to right for an insurance score. Olvey pushed across a Milligan run in the home half of the eighth, but one run would proved to be the difference.
Brevard, with a 6-2 record after the split, jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three and a half innings.
Chancli Connatser pitched the opening four innings for the home side and gave up eight hits, six runs of which only one were earned. The sophomore struck out six as well.
Johnson County’s Samantha Mahala came in relief, where she tossed the final four innings. While in the circle, she gave up a pair of runs on five hits. The freshman also had a single in the fifth for her first collegiate hit.
Brevard’s Brittany Tucker went 3-for-5 with two RBIs while Meredith Davenport, Mallory, Brittany Fowler and Clemens all gave Brevard two hits apiece. Clemens drove in three while Mallory scored three times. Overall, the Lady Tornadoes got 14 hits from eight starters.
Clemens was the winning pitcher with 2 2/3 innings of relief. She gave up the one run in the eighth on three hits.
Tuesday’s games for Milligan were the fifth and sixth against teams from the South Atlantic Conference, a NCAA Division II league, this season. The Lady Buffs had started the season at Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) and nearby Tusculum.
Milligan will take part in the Midsouth Winter Blast in Decautar, Ala., this weekend. First for the Lady Buffs will be games against Shorter (Ga.) and Lee (Tenn.) Friday.
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