MIFFLINBURG -- Mifflinburg has shut out Milton in 11 of 13 innings this season. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it's the sixth inning that gets them every time.

For the second time this year, Milton used a three-run sixth to dispose of Mifflinburg. Nicole Smith and Aly Hoover had RBIs in the top of the sixth as the Black Panthers rallied for a 3-2 win Tuesday in Susquehanna Valley League play.

"I never like to fall behind 2-0, but it was nice to see us respond," said Milton coach Bill Keefer, whose team beat the Wildcats 3-0 on April 10. "They didn't respond real well for the first five innings, but you could hear them as the game went on: They were starting to get more and more alert."

The Black Panthers' league winning streak reached 31 with the victory; should Milton (16-0, 14-0 SVL) win its final four games, it would become the first team to go through an entire SVL season unbeaten since the 1998 edition of the Black Panthers.

Mifflinburg (12-4, 11-3) lost any realistic chance of claiming its first league crown since 2004, but coach Mike Beckley came away pleased with his team's effort.

"That's the best game I've seen us play in three years -- by far," he said. "They came out swinging, and just played their heart out. I was very pleased."

Two of the area's best hurlers toed the rubber Tuesday. Wildcats sophomore Emily Crandell was the hard-luck loser, fanning 12 and walking one while allowing just four hits. Smith, a junior, got the win. She gave up a two-run homer to Hannah Allison -- who would finish 3-for-3 -- in the first, but then settled down and allowed just three singles over the final 6.2 innings. She struck out three and walked none.

"Both looked like they had pretty good command of their pitches," Keefer said. "The umpire did a good job of not giving them too big a strike zone, but giving them enough so the pitchers could work."

Crandell was mowing through the Black Panthers' lineup before Milton finally broke through in the sixth. Melissa Balliet, the only Milton batter to get two hits in the game, singled to start the frame. After Kelley Pfleegor popped out, Larissa Luu walked to put two runners on. Smith then doubled in Balliet, making the score 2-1 and putting two runners in scoring position.

"I was trying to just take it to that (right) side," Smith said. "I wanted to make contact with it, so we could at least advance runners."

Crandell fanned Jennalee Williams to get the second out, but then Hoover sent a grounder up the middle that hit second base and bounced away from shortstop Corrin Showalter, who had no chance to get Smith at home for the go-ahead run.

"The morale was kind of low (before the sixth)," Hoover said. "(Balliet getting on first) was the first time we had anybody on with no outs."

Mifflinburg had taken the early lead when Allison turned on a Smith offering and sent it 195 feet over the fence in left. Amy Cline, who had led off with a single, also scored on the play.

"When she does turn on it, and she levels out her swing, she can crush the ball," Beckley said. "When Hannah focuses on what she's doing, she can be really tough."