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Buffs go undefeated in home tourney

A Ben Grable walk-off, home runs from four Buffaloes, six strikeouts by Brock Browning and Cobey Allison, and four come-from-behind efforts were only a few of the highlights from a 4-0 week for the Milligan University baseball team at Milligan’s Clash of Conferences tournament Thursday and Friday at TVA Credit Union Ballpark.

Buffs go undefeated in home tourney
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February 5, 2021

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2021) – A Ben Grable walk-off, home runs from four Buffaloes, six strikeouts by Brock Browning and Cobey Allison, and four come-from-behind efforts were only a few of the highlights from a 4-0 week for the Milligan University baseball team at Milligan's Clash of Conferences tournament Thursday and Friday at TVA Credit Union Ballpark.

Milligan swept the first day with wins of 6-5 and 10-5 over Thomas More and Rio Grande. The Buffaloes then swept the second day with wins of 13-7 and 4-2, again over Thomas More and Rio Grande. The wins improved Milligan to 5-1 on the season.

"I was very happy with the way the team competed overall," Head Coach Skyler Barnett said postgame. "I thought we dealt with adversity, being down in every game and being able to come back with quality pitching and timely hitting. We showed some resiliency and some confidence."

This marked the second straight season Milligan went undefeated in the home season-opening tournament as Barnett's team improved to 7-0 at the Clash of Conferences tournament during his tenure.

"We still have some small things we need to tighten up," Barnett added, "but it was good we were exposed on those things. The goal is to learn from mistakes and get better every single day we take the field."

Tournament totals

Braden Spano and Justin Greene were Milligan's hitting leaders over the two-day tournament, both batting 7-for-15 (.467) to rank third among all three competing teams. Spano added a tournament-most seven RBI's with Chancery Hall following next with six and Grable with four.

Browning, who picked up the win in Friday's first game, posted the tournament's second-lowest ERA at 3.00 while Brandon Marello followed in third with a 3.86 ERA. Marello received no decision in Friday's second game but allowed only two runs over four and two-thirds innings. Browning and Allison were also the tournament leaders in total strikeouts, with Allison's coming alongside a 13.50 K/9 average after striking out six in only four and two-thirds innings.

"We were fortunate to get to play two quality teams and get four games in this weekend," Barnett said. "(Assistant Coach) Ryan Mossman has done really well getting the pitching staff prepared to go out and anchor this team, and (assistant coaches) Joey Selitto, David Bryant and Ray Smith got our hitters ready for an offensive effort where we scored over 30 runs in four games. That was a completely different offensive showing than when we played USC Beaufort last week."

Thursday Game One | Milligan 6, Thomas More 5

A slow start for Milligan proved only to make an exciting finish.

Thomas More jumped ahead first with a 4-0 lead after a four-run second, but Milligan battled back with runs in four of the last five innings to win on a Ben Grable walk-off.

It was 4-3, Thomas More in the sixth when Kirby Smith homered on the second pitch of the inning to tie the game. After Thomas More took the lead with a run in the top half of the seventh, the Buffs answered with two in the bottom half to win.

Spano doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh, then Logan Estep, his pinch runner, scored on a wild pitch moments later. Casey Haire proved to be the winning run and reached on an infield hit. Two batters later, Haire was on third for a Grable deep fly ball that won the game.

Garrett Bowman pitched three and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief to keep the game close. Andrei Beal picked up the winning decision.

Thursday Game Two | Milligan 10, Rio Grande 5

Rio scored the first two runs of the game, but it was nearly all Buffaloes the rest of the way.

Spano drove in one run in the bottom of the third before Milligan put up four runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Allison earned the win with a line of four innings, five hits, two runs, one walk and six strikeouts. TJ Kuhn and Brian Baxa both pitched scoreless relief.

Friday Game One | Milligan 13, Thomas More 7

Similar to the night before, Milligan fell behind early before quickly putting the game out of reach with a big inning in the bottom of the third.

Hall launched a two-run homer to left as part of the damage in that frame, sandwiched by an Anthony Guzman RBI double and Spano RBI single.

The Buffaloes then posted another big inning in the fifth, plating six runs to round out their scoring. Hall had a two-RBI single that inning before coming home to score on a Spano double. Spano then scored on a Greene RBI single, and Smith would finish off the inning with a two-RBI double to deep center.

Browning was the winning pitcher with six innings of six-hit ball. He allowed only two earned runs and struck out six. Colin Wagner finished off the seventh with a strikeout in a 1-2-3 inning.

Friday Game Two | Milligan 4, Rio Grande 2

Marello picked up where Browning left off. Marello did not get the win but pitched well enough to deserve one.

Milligan trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth before Spano swung the lead with a big swing of the bat, popping one over the right field fence for a three-run homer to make it 4-2.

Graham Hooker and Baxa would then close the door with perfect innings in the sixth and seventh, respectively, combining for three strikeouts. Hooker got the win while Baxa got the save.

Up next

Milligan returns to TVA Credit Union Ballpark next weekend for a three-game set against Lindsey Wilson. The Buffaloes begin their Appalachian Athletic Conference slate two weeks after that when they head to Truett McConnell.