MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 26, 2017) â€" The highest-scoring day of the season saw the Milligan College softball team split a nonconference twin bill against Lees-McRae College Sunday afternoon at Anglin Softball Field. Milligan rallied late but fell in game one 14-12, then put the run rule into effect in game two, winning 12-3.
 
The Milligan (4-5) offense was firing all afternoon as Kacie Skeen and Jaclyn Jenkins went 3-for-4 in game one before Jenna Gilbert went 3-for-4 in game two. Nine other Buffs got a piece of the offensive action by recording at least one hit.
 
One of the biggest hits of the afternoon came off the bat of Hannah Simmons in the bottom of the first inning in game two when Simmons hit a bases-clearing double off the wall in left-center. It gave Milligan a 3-2 lead and the Buffs never looked back, adding two more runs in the first, four runs in the second and three runs in the third, and cruising to the run-ruled victory.
 
Simmons was 2-for-3 with three RBI's and two runs scored. Erica Roller and Skeen helped pad the lead in the next two innings with home runs. They were both two-run shots hit deep to left-center.
 
Home runs were key late in the first game as Milligan, which trailed 11-3 midway through the fifth, climbed back and eventually had the tying run at the plate. Rachel Coffey and Gilbert both hit home runs in the final inning to make it 14-12, capping Milligan's third straight three-run inning. Coffey's was a solo shot down the left field line on the first pitch of the inning before Gilbert sent hers to left-center field.
 
In the two innings leading up to the seventh, Milligan needed to rally to keep the run rule from coming into play, and the Buffs answered with three runs in each. Kimberly Robinson hit a one-out double to spark the comeback attempt in the fifth as she drove home Madison Grindstaff who also doubled in the inning. Kirstan Beaver followed later in the same inning with a pinch-hit single that brought home Robinson.
 
Inside the circle, Jenkins got the most work in game one, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing seven hits and six runs, only three of which were earned. Robinson went the same distance in game two, pitching 4.2 innings and allowing seven hits, two runs (one earned) and two walks with three strikeouts.
 
Milligan returns to action for a doubleheader at Brevard College on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. The next home game for the Buffs will mark the beginning of Appalachian Athletic Conference play as Milligan hosts Montreat College on Friday, March 3, at 1 p.m.