7th inning rally falls short as No. 9 Lady Hawks fall to Milligan, 5-4

By Matt Green

DECATUR, Ala. -- Milligan College scored four runs in the fourth to erase a two-run deficit then held on as Shorter rallied in the seventh en route to a 5-4 upset of the ninth-ranked Lady Hawks at the Alabama Arctic Blast tournament in Decatur, Ala.

The loss snaps a six-game winning streak to open the season for Shorter (6-1), which scored twice in the seventh to pull within one run, but stranded the tying run on third.

Jackie Castaneda and Brooke Bryan recorded two hits apiece for the Lady Hawks, who took a 2-0 lead on Bryan's RBI single in the second and Bre Johnson's RBI base hit in the fourth. The Lady Hawks missed out on a chance to push their lead to 3-0 when pinch runner Kellee Stone was thrown out at home while trying to score from third on an infield grounder in the fourth.

Milligan used that momentum to surge ahead with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Buffaloes took advantage of a Shorter error early in the inning and got an RBI single from Sarah Arrowood, a two-run double from Sierra Plese, and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Emily Biggs to take a 4-2 lead.

Three of Milligan's five hits came in the fourth frame.

Down 5-2 entering the seventh, Shorter loaded the bases with no outs thanks to consecutive singles from Sarah Corn, Charlsie Broome and Castaneda. Corn scored on Emily Clements' fielder's choice and Broome came home on an RBI groundout from Amanda Dailey, but Milligan pitcher Chancli Connatser forced Maddie Bray to ground out to the mound for the game's final out, leaving Castaneda on third.

Shorter outhit Milligan 8-5, but stranded seven runners. Bray started in the circle for Shorter and gave up two earned runs on two hits in 3.1 innings. Kayla Byrom tossed the final 2.2 innings and surrendered two runs on three hits.

Shorter continues play in the Alabama Arctic Blast today at 5 pm ET against Thomas (Ga.).