Buffs complete sweep over KCU with another big win
The offensive firepower continued for the Milligan University baseball team Sunday in a 15-5 run-ruled victory over Kentucky Christian. With the win, the Buffaloes completed the sweep of the Appalachian Athletic Conference series and improved to 14-9 (6-3 AAC).
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 14, 2021) – The offensive firepower continued for the Milligan University baseball team Sunday in a 15-5 run-ruled victory over Kentucky Christian. With the win, the Buffaloes completed the sweep of the Appalachian Athletic Conference series and improved to 14-9 (6-3 AAC).
Justin Greene went 3-for-5 with a homer, a walk, four RBI's, two runs scored and a "walk-off" hit that put the run rule into effect with two out in the eighth inning.
Eye-popping series numbers
Greene's final base hit completed a series in which the Buffaloes outscored Kentucky Christian 36-9. The Buffaloes hit five home runs and seven doubles in the series while Robert Salcedo led the Buffs going 6-for-10 with four runs.
Anthony Guzman went 7-for-12 with nine RBI's and six runs. Eight of the nine Buffs in the regular starting lineup batted .300 or better, and the team batted .402 as a unit.
Defensively, Milligan's pitching staff allowed only eight earned runs and a .256 batting average against. The staff also went 6.1 innings of scoreless relief and combined for 26 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched.
Sunday's finale follows Saturday's winning trend
Greene was the first of three Buffaloes with multiple hits in the one-sided finale. Guzman (2-for-5) and Salcedo (2-for-3) followed with two hits, while five other Buffs accounted for one each.
Greene put the Buffs on top in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer to right to make it 2-1, although KCU battled back with a four-run fourth.
That would be all the scoring the Knights would do for the series as Milligan shut them down defensively while scoring 13 runs over the last five innings to put the game away. This included a five-run bottom half of the fourth that featured a Greene RBI single and Chancery Hall two-run homer.
Guzman followed with a two-run homer of his own, the team's third of the day, in the fifth, and the Buffaloes tacked on three runs on four hits in the sixth and three more runs on two hits in the eighth.
Garrett Wilkins made the start on the hill and went the first 3.2 innings before Garrett Bowman entered for the final out of the fourth before earning the win as Milligan took the lead in the bottom half. Jacob Crumbly and Brian Baxa each pitched two innings in relief. Crumbly struck out four before Baxa faced the minimum.
Up next
Milligan hosts Bob Jones on Tuesday in a doubleheader back here at TVA Credit Union Ballpark. The Buffs host St. Andrews next weekend in an AAC series.