KINGSPORT, Tenn. (April 27, 2016) â€" After sophomore Cayley Shoemaker provided some theatrics to tie the game in the seventh, Jenna Gilbert provided the game-winning RBI in the eighth, and the Milligan College softball team earned a team win over Union College, 6-3 in eight innings, in an Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament elimination game Wednesday afternoon at Brickyard Park.
 
Milligan (25-17, 12-8 AAC) will face Point University or Bryan College on Thursday, April 28, at 1 p.m. for its next game, and the Buffs would play again at 5 p.m. with a win.
 
Shoemaker was 2-for-4 in the victory, including one of the biggest hits of the game on a one-out triple to deep right-center field which scored Jessica Wheelock, cut the score in half, and got the momentum going in Milligan's favor. The Buffs trailed 3-1 at that point until Shoemaker's triple made it 3-2, then Kelsey Linn drove in Shoemaker in the next at-bat to tie it at 3-3.
 
Shoemaker, who made the start and pitched the first four innings, re-entered in the circle after scoring the tying run, and she kept the Bulldogs scoreless over the last two innings. Meanwhile, Natalie Sheffey and Gilbert hit back-to-back doubles to start the eighth, Gilbert's proving to be the winning hit. Milligan went on to score two more runs in the eighth to put the game away.
 
Joining Shoemaker in the multiple hits column were seniors Sheffey and Wheelock who were 2-for-4 with base hits in what could have been the last at-bats of their careers, and Kacie Skeen who was 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the eighth.
 
In the circle, Shoemaker went a combined six innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs and two walks.
 
Milligan will play again on Thursday, April 28, against either Point or Bryan. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the Buffs would play again at 5 p.m. with a win over Point/Bryan.