COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Saturday, the Milligan University softball team traveled to Columbia, S.C. for an Appalachian Athletic Conference doubleheader against the Columbia College Koalas. The Buffs jumped out to early leads in both contests but were unable to hold on, dropping the twinbill by scores of 10-5 and 9-5.

Milligan went down in order in the first before getting on the board in the second inning, when Katelin Secrist doubled to left field and came around to score on an Ashley Worley single to left to make it 1-0.

The Buffs added two more in the third to take a 3-0 lead. Haley Vigil singled to center and advanced to third on a Kaylee Oler sacrifice bunt before back-to-back walks to Jordan Roulettwheeler and Jaylyn Halliburton loaded the bases. Secrist singled to third to plate Vigil, and a bases-loaded walk to Alana Parsons brought in Roulettwheeler to make it 3-0 after three.

The lead would not last, however, as Columbia erupted for seven runs in the fourth, largely fueled by four Milligan fielding errors, to take a 7-3 advantage.

The Koalas tacked on three more in the fifth to push the lead to 10-3, putting the game well out of reach.

The Buffs showed some fight in the sixth, as Parsons doubled to right and came around to score on a Koala defensive miscue, before Johnson scored on a wild pitch after reaching on an error to cut the deficit to 10-5. Milligan was unable to add anything more in the seventh and dropped game one by a 10-5 final.

Game two was a different story early on, as the Buffs came out swinging and jumped on Columbia quickly. Vigil got things started with a leadoff double to center field, and Roulettwheeler came through with an RBI groundout to plate Vigil and put Milligan up 1-0 after one.

The Buffs built on their lead in the top of the second, plating three more runs to extend the advantage to 4-0. Abigail Teubert and Parsons opened the frame with back-to-back singles, and a walk to Johnson loaded the bases. Shoun drew a walk to bring in Teubert, and Vigil reached on a fielder's choice to score Parsons. Oler then singled to left to bring Johnson home, capping the three-run inning.

Columbia answered in the bottom of the second, however, cutting the deficit to 4-3 on a pair of RBI hits and a sacrifice fly to close the frame.
The Koalas grabbed the lead for good in the third on a two-run double to center that put Columbia ahead 5-4.

Neither side scored in the fourth as the Buffs looked to respond, but Columbia tacked on two more in the fifth on a Milligan fielding error to push the lead to 7-4. The Koalas added two more in the sixth to make it 9-4 and put the game away.

Milligan added a final run in the seventh on a Johnson sacrifice fly to score Bree Presnell, but it was too little too late as the Koalas took game two 9-5.

Milligan combined for 13 hits across the doubleheader, tallying six in game one and seven in game two. Vigil (4-for-8, 2B, RBI) led the team offensively across both games, while Secrist (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Parsons (2-for-6, 2B, RBI) each had multi-hit days as well. Worley (1-for-2, RBI), Oler (1-for-6, RBI) and Shoun (1-for-4, RBI) also contributed on the day.

On the mound in game one, Secrist started and allowed six runs on five hits over 3.2 innings before Presnell (2.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 4 SO) came on in relief. In game two, Teubert (L, 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 11 H, 2 SO) took the loss, with Roulettwheeler (1.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H) closing things out in relief.
Milligan (14-12, 9-5 AAC) will look to bounce back at home tomorrow Sunday March, 29 against the Pioneers of Spartanburg Methodist College.