MARYVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2016) â€" After the Milligan College softball team suffered its first sweep of the season earlier this week, Samantha Lilley and Jessica Goodson helped the Buffaloes battle back to earn a split against NCAA Division III Maryville College Sunday at the MC Softball Complex. Milligan fell 3-2 in a nail biter in game one, but rebounded for a 9-6 victory in game two.

The Buffs got off to a great start in game two, scoring eight times in the first four innings. Lilley recorded two runs batted in in the first, Madison Grindstaff brought in Kaitlin Campbell in the third, and singles by Jenna Gilbert and Kelley Sorenson both scored a run in the fourth.

Jessica Goodson, Milligan's game two starter, was chased in the bottom of the fifth as the Scots scored four runs to cut the Buffs lead to 8-6. That was, however, the closest Maryville would get as Kassi Butcher earned her second save of the season, and Lilley singled in Gilbert for an insurance run in the sixth. Butcher allowed only two hits through her three innings to close out the game, while Goodson (3-2) earned the win, giving up seven hits but only four earned runs in four innings.

Lilley reached base three times in game two, going 2-for-3 with three RBI's and a walk. Gilbert was 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored, Jessica Wheelock was 2-for-3 with two runs, and Grindstaff was also 2-for-3, adding both a run and an RBI.

In the opener, Milligan again led heading into the bottom of the fifth. A base knock by Wheelock brought in Kacie Skeen in the first inning and Cayley Shoemaker, making her first start in the circle as a Buff, then scored in the top half of the fifth as she stole third and scored on a wild throw by the catcher.

After helping give herself a two-run cushion, Shoemaker (1-1) gave up her only blemish of the game as the Scots scored twice on a double and again on a passed ball. Despite only giving up three hits and two earned runs in 4.1 innings, Shoemaker was handed the loss while her opposition, Kayla Aloski (6-2), was just a little bit better, going the distance and giving up seven hits and two earned runs.

Goodson took over for Shoemaker in the fifth inning of game one, and finished the contest without allowing a Maryville base runner in the final 1.2 innings as the Buffs used the momentum to jump ahead in game two.

Sunday's split was the first meeting between the two teams since 2008. It kept both Milligan's and Maryville's current season records at .500 as the Buffs moved to 5-5 and the Scots to 6-6.

Next up, the Buffs return to Anglin Field for their first multigame home stand of the season as they host another NCAA Division III institution, Ferrum College, and Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Bryan College on back-to-back days. Milligan plays Ferrum on Wednesday, March 2, and Bryan on Thursday, March 3, with the doubleheaders set to begin at 1 p.m. on both dates.