MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 6, 2016) â€" After a wet field in Mars Hills, North Carolina, forced the Buffaloes to move their season opener to the friendly confines of Anglin Softball Field, Natalie Sheffey and Kacie Skeen both hit two-run home runs as they led the Milligan College softball team to a 5-3 victory in game one over Mars Hill University before the Buffs let a first-inning lead in the second game get away, 6-1, Saturday afternoon in a season-opening doubleheader.
 
It did not take long for the fireworks to kick off Milligan's season as Sheffey started off both games hot for the Buffs, taking a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right-center field in the first inning of game one, then starting off game two with a double to deep right center to bring in Jessica Connatser from first. Connatser scored three times from first on the day as she also was the additional run on both Sheffey and Skeen's home runs, the latter of which went to straightaway center in the top of the third inning of game one and gave Milligan a 4-0 lead.
 
Goodson pitched five innings in game one to earn the victory as she stranded Mars Hill runners on third in both the second and third innings. The Lions outhit the Buffs 4-3 through three innings, but were unable to push across a run until a home run by Taylor Lail in the bottom of the fourth got Mars Hill on the board.
 
Another Mars Hill solo shot, this one in the bottom of the fifth by Ellen Tillman, made it 4-2, Milligan, as Goodson left after giving up only two runs. After the Buffs added an insurance run in the top of the sixth thanks to a single up the middle by Cayley Shoemaker to bring in Erica Roller, freshman Kassi Butcher came in to finish the game.
 
Butcher, making her first collegiate appearance, went on to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth with a strikeout and a ground ball to short to end the inning. She then closed out the final inning as a two-out rally by the Lions was halted when a double by Lail brought in Kaleigh Jonas from second before Jamie Booze was caught and tagged out between third and home to end the game.
 
Butcher earned the save in game one, and went on to make her first career start in game two, allowing a leadoff hit in each of the first two innings and getting out of jams before getting chased in the third. A strikeout by Butcher left the bases loaded for Mars Hill in the first, and the Lions stranded a runner on third in the second after back-to-back groundouts to Butcher ended the threat.
 
In the bottom of the third, however, a leadoff double and a walk allowed by Butcher gave way to Kimberly Robinson, who allowed a base hit to bring in the Lions' first run of the game and tie it at 1-1. In the next inning, Robinson gave up a grand slam by Erin Vickery followed back-to-back by another homer from Lail, her second of the day.
 
Milligan fell behind 5-1 after the big inning for the Lions, and was never able to recover as it left a runner of second in the top of the fifth, left runners on second and third in the top of the sixth, and went down in order in the seventh. Robinson suffered the loss despite all five of her runs being unearned, while Sydney Elkin picked up the victory for Mars Hill, pitching all seven innings while allowing only four hits, one run, and striking out eight.
 
The games, which counted as hometallies for the Buffs despite playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard, brought Milligan's record to 1-1 and Mars Hill's to 3-3 to begin the season.
 
Next up, Milligan will play its first two games of the season away from Anglin Field as the Buffs travel to Williamsburg, Kentucky, for a 2 p.m. doubleheader with University of the Cumberlands on Wednesday, Feb. 17.