JACKSON, Miss. -- The LeTourneau baseball team opened the 2023 campaign with a pair of losses on the road at Millsaps on Friday evening at Twenty Field. LeTourneau dropped the opener, 7-5, before falling in the nightcap, 5-2.

It was the season opener for both LeTourneau (0-2) and Millsaps (2-0).

Cole Thompson had four hits combined on the day, while Dane Jones homered and drove in four of the seven runs scored by the YellowJackets in the twin-bill.

GAME ONE: Millsaps 7, LeTourneau 5

Millsaps scored two runs in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie and held off LeTourneau, 7-5, in the opener.

Jones went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs in the loss. He drove in the first run for LeTourneau with his RBI single in the first inning that allowed Thompson to score and put the YellowJackets ahead 1-0.

Millsaps answered with two runs in the second inning, but a Jones two-run homer in the third inning gave the lead right back to the YellowJackets at 3-2. The homer was Jones' seventh career blast after hitting a team-high six last season.

The host Majors grabbed the lead again with three unearned runs in the bottom of the third with Joshua Laurent's two-out, two-run single the big blow in the frame that gave Millsaps a 5-3 edge. That margin did not last long as LeTourneau's Lane Williams blasted a two-run homer to left field in the top of the fourth to even the score at 5-5.

The home run was Williams' first career long ball.

Millsaps took the lead for good in the seventh. LeTourneau reliever Dalton Pickett threw three scoreless frames before the Majors were able to scratch across two runs in the seventh. RBI singles from Austin Arceneaux and Case Page made the difference.

LeTourneau put two runners on in the ninth with two outs, but Millsaps reliever Will Cook preserved the win.

Landon Stocks made the start for LeTourneau and went three innings allowing two earned runs. Pickett (0-1) got the loss, but tossed three straight scoreless innings before the seventh. 

Thompson and Kyle Maysonave both had two hits as the YellowJackets totaled 11 in the loss.

Cook (1-0) got the win on the bump for the Majors after throwing the final four innings and striking out seven.

GAME TWO: Millsaps 5, LeTourneau 2

A three-run first inning for Millsaps propelled the Majors to a 5-2 win and a doubleheader sweep.

Thompson had two more hits for LeTourneau, while Jones drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Maysonave and Williams each had a hit in the defeat.

LeTourneau struck early again as Jones delivered a sacrifice fly in the first inning. In the home half of the inning, Millsaps scored three times on four hits to grab a 3-1 lead. That lead stretched to 5-1 after the fifth with Millsaps putting up single runs in the third and fifth innings.

The YellowJackets got a run back in the seventh as Ethan Wood scored on a wild pitch, but the visitors could not get closer.

Aman Patel (0-1) made the start and went the first three innings and struck out four.

Jackson Hood (1-0) got the win and Will Norris preserved the save for the Majors.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau and Millsaps conclude the series on Saturday at 12 p.m.