Milligan Softball Takes Two from Carolina on the Road

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Milligan University's softball team continued their 2025 campaign with a pair of non-conference tilts at Carolina University in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Sunday afternoon. The Buffs ended up with a tight win in game one, followed by a more dominant result in game two to earn the sweep of the Bruins on the road.

Milligan had a quick start offensively in game one, as Maggie Johnson walloped her second leadoff homer of the season to put MU up 1-0. Carolina would respond with an RBI groundout to make it 1-1 until the third.

The Bruins grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third with a run-scoring single, making it 2-1 entering the fourth.

Hannah Bates would knot the score at 2-2 with an RBI single to left field to bring home Sadie Shoun, and then a double steal of second and home by Bates and Mia Grasse gave the Buffs the lead, once again.

Carolina would tie things at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth on a single up the middle, and the game would stay tied until inning number seven.

Jordan Roulettwheeler laced a single to right field that drove in Ma. Johnson to break the tie, as Milligan shut the door with runners at second and third in the bottom of the seventh to hold on to a 4-3 win.

Game two between the squads began with a scoreless first and then the Buffs put up three runs in the top of the second, as Hadley York reached on a fielding error by the CU right fielder and both runners who were on base—Bates and Grasse—scored. Unfortunately for Milligan, that would be quickly erased by a three-run home run in the bottom of the second from Carolina, making it 3-3.

In the top of the fifth, the Buffaloes scored all five of their remaining runs, as a RBI fielder's choice by Jaylyn Halliburton brought home Roulettwheeler to make it 4-3. Then, a single to left by Bates scored Lauren Million, while an error by the center fielder allowed both other runners to score, as well. Halliburton and Grasse came home to score on the play, and H. York then drove in Bates to put MU up 8-3, which was the eventual final tally.

Ma. Johnson (4-for-8, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R), Roulettwheeler (4-for-9, RBI, R), Grasse (3-for-4, 3 R, SB), Bates (2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB) and H. York (2-for-4, RBI, R) all had multiple hits for the Buffs, who combined for 18 hits with nine in each contest.

Bree Presnell tossed a complete game in the first tilt, allowing three runs on 12 hits in the battle to win 4-3.

After Katelin Secrist started the second tilt in the circle and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits across 1.2 innings, Faith Caldwell turned in 5.1 frames of one-hit work with a trio of strikeouts to earn the win in the 8-3 triumph.

Milligan's two-win afternoon puts them at 5-3 for the season with more Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) action on the near horizon. The Buffs head to Bryan College on Wednesday, Feb. 26 for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. in Dayton, Tenn.