Baseball drops series opener to No. 23 Reinhardt 5-3

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (April 28, 2022) – The Milligan University baseball team fell 5-3 to No. 23 Reinhart in a tight opening game of the final series of the regular season at Anglin Field on Thursday evening.

Milligan falls to 34-17 and Reinhardt rises to 31-19. Both teams now stand at 19-9 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play with tomorrow's doubleheader representing the final two games of conference play.

Brandon Marello doubled to lead off the home half of the first inning. He moved up to third on a pickoff throw gone astray and scored on a Braden Spano single into right field to give Milligan a 1-0 edge.

Reinhardt threatened to tie the game in the top of the second as the Eagles put a runner on third with nobody out. Starting pitcher Andrei Beal posted back-to-back-to-back strikeouts keep Reinhardt off the scoreboard.

The Eagles took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third as they used three hits, a walk, hit batsman and sac fly to score three runs.

After a leadoff single by Ethan Jones in the bottom of the third, Marello tied the game with a line drive over the left-center field fence to tie the game at three.

Reinhardt put runners on second and third in the fifth with two outs, but Beal escaped with a strikeout.

In the sixth, the Eagles loaded the bases with nobody out. Beal coaxed a shallow flyout to center before Chancery Hall entered the game in relief. He picked up a strikeout and closed the frame with a flyout to Justin Greene in center field to end the inning.

A throwing error resulted in Reinhardt taking the lead in the top of the seventh and a fielding error with a runner on third turned into another run to give the Eagles a 5-3 edge.

Creed Werker turned in a scoreless ninth inning to bring the Buffs to the plate trailing by two runs in the ninth. Spano singled in the bottom of the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with one out, but the Buffs were unable to break through with another hit as Reinhardt took the game 5-3.

Marello went 2-3 with a home run, double, two runs and two RBI. Spano also had two hits and an RBI.

The Buffs and Eagles conclude the regular season with a doubleheader tomorrow starting at noon.