MONTEVALLO, Ala. — Mychael McMillan kept the University of West Florida offense at bay Friday afternoon. And the junior did it again in a pivotal series-deciding game to lift Montevallo to a 2-1 victory in game two of Saturday's doubleheader after the Falcons dropped the first game 6-1.
Saturday's win over UWF marked the third win over a ranked opponent for Montevallo this season after the Falcons knocked off 12th-ranked UIndy last weekend, before beating No. 4 West Florida twice this weekend. Saturday also marked the second time in school history Montevallo took a series against West Florida in Montevallo after doing so in 2018.
"The girls won this series this weekend," said Montevallo softball head coach
Lindsay Vanover. "All the credit goes to our entire team, top to bottom. We are 21 strong and this is the best team we've ever had. They love each other and love this game."
After West Florida scored six runs on 11 hits and two Montevallo errors in game one — with the Falcons' only run coming on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fourth — McMillan allowed only two hits throughout seven full innings of game two.
McMillan (3-3) retired the first five West Florida batters before a two-out bloop single into left-centerfield. The following Argonaut was hit by a pitch, but McMillan responded with her second strikeout of the game. From there, the junior right-hander went on a streak of 13 consecutive Argonauts retired until issuing a leadoff walk to start the seventh.
McMillan was one strike away from her first career complete-game shutout, but UWF knocked a 2-2 pitch to the base of the centerfield fence that plated a run. However, McMillan earned the win by striking out her eighth batter of the game.
"What she did today was so special," Vanover said. "She hadn't thrown two complete games during her career here in Montevallo, so for her to do that on back-to-back games in back-to-back days and to beat a nationally-ranked team, too, I would've never expected that."
Haley Barnette gave McMillan a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, before
Georgia Hughes came off the bench and drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth to make it 2-0.
Montevallo will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 19 when the Falcons host Miles College at 6:00 p.m. CT.
