MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (March 30, 2016) â€" It was seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning in game one and seven runs in the bottom of the third in game two that proved to be the difference as the Milligan College softball team moved into a tie for first place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference with an 11-6, 14-5 sweep over Columbia College Wednesday at Anglin Softball Field.
 
With the wins, Milligan (20-8, 8-2) tied AAC-leader Tennessee Wesleyan College for the conference lead, pending upon the outcomes of TWC's doubleheader with No. 19 Reinhardt University on Wednesday. The Buffaloes also continued their hot month of March as Milligan swept its sixth of the last eight doubleheaders and earned their 15th win of the month, surpassing the number the team earned in March of 2014 when they finished second in the AAC at 22-17 and 16-4. Lastly, Milligan is now 11-3 at home this season, its most wins at home since 2012, and has now won five straight games over Columbia (15-13, 4-6).
 
In addition to Milligan's seven-run third inning in game two, which came after Columbia scored five unearned runs in the top of the first and led 5-2 after two and a half innings, the story of the finale was four home runs for the Buffs. The first was a solo shot in the first inning by Jessica Wheelock, while the second was a three-run homer by Kacie Skeen to tie the game at 5-5 in the third inning. Milligan finished the third inning with RBI's by Cayley Shoemaker, Wheelock and Natalie Sheffey to go up 9-5.
 
The Buffs then tacked on five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as Kimberly Robinson hit another three-run homer and Skeen ended the game with a two-run shot, her second long ball of the day and third of her junior year. All four of the home runs went to left field while Robinson's was the fourth of her senior season and Wheelock's was her second, also as a senior.
 
With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth in game one, Milligan nearly put the game away early like it did in the second game. The first eight batters of the bottom of the fifth all reached as Jessica Goodson took a four-pitch walk and Shoemaker tripled to start the inning. Back-to-back doubles by Wheelock and Sheffey kept the runs coming before a two-RBI double by Jenna Gilbert, a run-scoring single by Skeen and an RBI double to deep center by Goodson capped off the scoring.
 
Goodson earned her ninth win of the season in game one, matching the total number of victories she had in her first two collegiate seasons. Shoemaker got her second save of the year by getting the final out in the opening game, and then settled things down in relief in game two after the Koalas five-run start. Shoemaker advanced her record to 4-1 with an effort of three hits, no runs and only one walk in 5.2 innings.
 
Out of Milligan's 26 combined hits offensively, Sheffey batted a combined 6-for-7 with five runs, three RBI's, three doubles, two steals and a walk, Gilbert was a combined 6-for-8 with three runs, three RBI's and two doubles, and Wheelock finished a combined 5-for-8 with five runs scored, three RBI's, a home run, two doubles and two stolen bases. Sheffey was 3-for-3 in game one and Gilbert was 4-for-4 in game two, while also in the second game, Skeen was 2-for-4 with 5 RBI's, two home runs and two runs.
 
Next up, Milligan kicks off April with three road doubleheaders on Friday, April 1, at St. Andrews University, Monday, April 4, at Truett-McConnell College, and Sunday, April 10 at Montreat College. Start time for the first two doubleheaders is set for 1 p.m. while the Montreat series is slated for 2 p.m.