Buffs rally past St. Andrews in opening round of AAC tournament

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 4, 2022) – The Milligan University baseball team defeated the St. Andrews Knights 11-2 in the opening round of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament on Wednesday morning. The win marked the Buffs first AAC tournament win since 2018.

Milligan climbs to 35-19 while St. Andrews falls to 37-16.

St. Andrews struck first in the top half of the first with one run on two hits. A base hit followed by a double off the wall gave the Knights its first run of the ball game with no outs. Brandon Marello then proceeded to record a strikeout, pickoff at second base, and pop out to shortstop to end the inning.

Milligan answered with two runs in the home half of the first on two hits. After a fly out to right field for out number one, Anthony Guzman launched a home run to right center to tie the game at one. Following the homer, Justin Greene hit a ground rule double over the left field wall, stole third base, then scored on a sacrifice fly from Braden Spano that was caught on the warning track.

The Buffs added on to their lead in the bottom half of the third with three runs on four hits. Marello started the inning with a double to left field followed by a bunt-single by Greene. Spano then laced a line-drive RBI base hit into left field before Josh Lail roped a two-RBI triple down the right field line to plate both baserunners. Milligan took a 5-1 lead after three.

Robert Salcedo got the bottom of the fourth started with a leadoff double to left. Back-to-back errors from the Knights defense brought Salcedo around to score. Guzman then reached base on a bunt-single to give the Buffs runners at first and third with one out. A line shot RBI-single to right field by Greene in the next at-bat gave Milligan a 7-1 lead after four.

In the bottom half of the fifth, Milligan used one hit and three hit by pitches to tack on two more runs. After Lail began the inning with a double to left, Eric Rigsby reached base via hit by pitch (HBP). Following a fielder's choice for the first out, another HBP loaded the bases for Augustus Fraley who drew an RBI-walk. One more HBP in the frame gave the Buffs a 9-1 lead after five.

A St. Andrews solo home run in the top of the sixth trimmed the deficit to 9-2 Buffaloes.

Marello drew a two-out walk, stole second base, and scored on an RBI-single to left center from Guzman in the bottom of the seventh to take a 10-2 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, a sac fly from Andrew Mathias gave Milligan an 11-2 lead with one more at-bat for the Knights in the top of the ninth. Brock Browning slammed the door with a foul out to third base and two groundouts to end St. Andrews hopes of any comeback.

As a team, the Buffs combined for 15 hits and were led by Greene who was five-for-five with a double, RBI, and two runs scored. Lail had a phenomenal day at the plate as well with four hits including a triple, two doubles and an RBI. Guzman and Spano finished with two RBIs apiece with Guzman collecting three hits and a run scored. Milligan was a perfect six-for-six on the day with runners on and less than two outs.

Marello had a solid outing on the mound with plenty of run support as he pitched six innings, allowed six hits and two earned runs to go along with eight strikeouts. Brock Browning closed the game in the seventh, eighth and ninth as he recorded his eighth save of the season.

The Buffs will return to the diamond tomorrow at 7:00 PM to play the winner of Tennessee Wesleyan and Montreat