(RV) Baseball Drops Final Regular Season Contests at TMU

CLEVELAND, Ga. (April 26, 2024) - The (RV) Milligan University baseball team concluded their 2024 regular season with a doubleheader at Truett McConnell University (Ga.) on Friday afternoon. A wild day full of lead changes, massive offensive innings, and controversies, ended with a pair of losses for the Buffaloes, as they finished their season on a sour note.

After building an early eight-run advantage in the opener, Milligan coughed up the lead and dealt with a tight battle for the rest of the tilt, ultimately losing 11-10 in contentious fashion.

Game two was a much different game where runs came at much more of a premium. It ended in a 5-3 Buffaloes loss.

Milligan stands at 30-18 overall with an 18-12 record in the AAC at the conclusion of their season. With the defeats, they have now clinched the No. 4 seed for the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Baseball Championship tournament.

Game 1 - Truett McConnell 11, Milligan 10

In the game's early stages, the Buffs were firing on all cylinders, as the first eight hitters of the bout reached base. In that span, a leadoff homer from Angel Lobo, a double from Caleb Berry, a single from Jose Paula, an RBI single from Braden Spano, a hit-by-pitch for Vasili Kaloudis, a two-run single from Gaven Jones, an infield single by Ryan Molinari and a two-RBI two-bagger by Jack Sutton, brought home a total of six runs. Then, a sac fly from Andrew Mathias and a run-scoring single by Berry pushed across the final two runs of the frame.

In an unfortunate turn of events, TMU would rally for four runs of their own in the bottom of the first, cutting the Buffaloes' previous 8-0 advantage in half.

Two scoreless frames would ensue for both teams, but both squads added tallies again in the fourth. Spano would blast his second homer in as many games, as he belted a solo round-tripper to center. The home-standing Bears would respond with a three spot in the bottom half, slashing the Milligan lead to just a pair of runs at 9-7. 

The bottom of the sixth brought calamity for Milligan, as Truett McConnell added four more runs on five hits. With the big inning, they had taken a two-run lead over the Buffs, 11-9.

Responding in the top of the seventh, the Buffaloes scored a run on a sac fly by Berry. Trailing 11-10, Milligan would need some late-inning magic to keep the chance of a series sweep alive. 

In the top of the ninth inning, Mathias began the stanza at the dish for the Buffs. He promptly deposited a ball over the left-center field wall, which would have tied the game at 11-11. Unfortunately, the home plate umpire determined that Mathias failed to touch home plate, and the Buffs' shortstop was called out on appeal.

The huge shift in momentum thwarted the Milligan efforts, and put a stop to their comeback attempt, as TMU took the 11-10 triumph. 

Game 2 - Truett McConnell 5, Milligan 3

In the second affair of the afternoon, Milligan struggled to put up much offense, tallying only seven hits.

To complicate matters further, the Bears scored five runs on nine hits, effectively snuffing out the Buffs' chance to win the AAC series.

Jones was the lone hitter to manage multiple hits in the game for Milligan, and both of them were long balls. He drove in all three runs with his two-run homer and his solo shot.