MARSHALL, Texas – The Millsaps College baseball team was bested by East Texas Baptist University in the opening game of the Marshall, Texas Regional, 11-4 at Woods Field on Friday.
 
No. 23 and No. 2 seed Millsaps (29-14), which is competing in the program's ninth NCAA Baseball Regional, is now 5-4 in postseason openers.
 
Senior Nick Tarantino threw a career-high 132 pitches and recorded seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings. He reached 92 strikeouts on the year, setting the program's single-season strikeout mark.
 
Graduate Will Edwards, who tossed 90 in 2013, was on hand to congratulate Tarantino following the game.
 
"It's an absolute honor," Tarantino said of breaking the school strikeout record. "It was really cool for Will to come and give that ball to me postgame, it meant a lot. I had no idea until Coach Page told me (about breaking the record). I'm absolutely honored."

Graduate student Jackson Ware was terrific, batting 3-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored, an RBI and a walk.

Seniors Bradley Pelle and Gray Berry both hit 2-for-5. Pelle tallied a pair of doubles and an RBI, while Berry added an RBI and a run. Pelle also eclipsed 200 hits for his career.

Graduate Branyan Bounds (home run) as well as classmate David Abbadessa and senior Evan Scott (double) all recorded a hit in the defeat.

Fifth year pitcher Will Cook recorded the final two outs with one walk and a strikeout.

No. 3 seed ETBU (29-14) was the designated visiting team on the scoreboard and batted first. The Tigers started the game roaring with a 7-0 lead off seven hits and two walks in the opening inning.

"The whole year as a hitter whenever we've been down we've never felt like we were out," Ware said postgame. "We've never felt like the game was over at any point this season. Even being down in the last inning today we still felt like we had a shot. I love that about this team that (we) feel like we can win every game and inning. We never will doubt ourselves."

Pelle got the Majors going with a long, one-out hit to left field the sailed over the outfielder's head and skipped off the artificial turf for a ground-rule double. The Tigers closed the first with a ground out, which advanced Pelle to third, and a strikeout.

ETBU made it 8-0 in the second with a solo home run to left-center field. Tarantino finished the inning with a pair of bookending strikeouts.

Bounds got the Majors on the board with a solo homer to the identical spot over the left-center field fence. Ware then singled to left field before ETBU closed the inning with a fielder's choice.

In the top of the third inning, Ware made an excellent, diving catch that looked destined to land in front of him. However, the Tigers found the same home-run alley and made it 9-1 with the third solo home run of the contest.

Scott got the Majors' next hit with a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth. A strikeout and two fielding outs stopped the chance.

Ware and Abbadessa then both reached with singles to begin the fifth. However, the Tigers again escaped with a fielder's choice, ground out and fly out.

The Majors fought back, cutting the deficit to 9-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Ware tallied his third hit of the day with a solo homer out to left field. Then with two outs, Berry singled and was plated home with a Pelle RBI double.

ETBU added two runs in the top of ninth to make it 11-3. The hosts scored the first off a trio of singles before a bases-loaded walked plated the Tigers' final run.
 
Ware continued his stellar performance by beginning the bottom of the ninth with a walk. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and ground out before Berry singled his teammate home.

A double play ended the contest, but the Majors will look to bounce back on Saturday.

"The team knows several times this year we've won three games in a row; that's what our mindset hopefully will be," Page said. "When you're good at your job it means you have passion for it and you have fun doing it. This is where we will punch in tomorrow into that clock and we're going to have fun at work, take it one pitch at a time and go from there."

Millsaps will face No. 4 seed Huntingdon College in an elimination game at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Majors will look to survive and advance to a second do-or-die contest against the loser of Trinity (Texas) and ETBU in the nightcap at 6 p.m. Live video and live stats will be available for all games at gomajors.com.
 
 
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps College baseball program follow the Majors on X and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook or visit gomajors.com.

Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.