Marello, Beal, Greene, Spano and Guzman earn All-AAC honors

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (May 4, 2022) – The Milligan University baseball team had five players honored on the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) all-conference or gold glove teams, the league office announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Junior Brandon Marello earned All-AAC First Team honors at second base after earning second team status last spring. He hit .335 and was the team leader with 41 runs and ranked third in the AAC with 24 stolen bases. One of the Buffs' top starting pitchers as well, Marello posted a 7-2 record on the mount and logged a 3.38 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 74.2 innings this season.

Marello memorably hit a grand slam and was the winning pitcher in a 4-2 win at Point and belted a walk-off home run in a 5-4 12-inning victory over Truett McConnell in the final weeks of the regular season.

Sophomore Andrei Beal, senior Justin Greene and sophomore Braden Spano each earned All-AAC Second Team honors.

Beal earned an all-conference nod as a starting pitcher after setting Milligan's single-season strikeouts record. He punched out 112 batters in 76.1 innings on his way to an 8-3 record and 3.18 earned run average. Beal ranks in the top-10 nationally in strikeouts, top-20 in strikeouts per nine innings (13.21) and is one of three pitchers nationally with over 75 innings pitched without allowing a home run.

Beal tallied double-digit strikeouts in five outings and collected seven-inning complete game wins over Bob Jones and Emory & Henry.

Greene, the Buffs' center fielder, snagged one of four All-AAC Second Team outfield slots. One of the most productive and versatile offensive players in the conference, Greene is one of 16 players to have over 40 runs scored and runs batted in this spring. He hit .332 with six home runs, 40 runs scored, 46 RBI, 17 stolen bases and a team high 26 walks. Greene ranks inside the top-15 in the AAC in hits, RBI, total bases and stolen bases. He went 5-5 in the Buffs' AAC Tournament opener against St. Andrews, tying for the second-most hits in a single game in team history.

Spano was the Buffs' everyday first baseman but landed the designated hitter spot on the All-AAC Second Team. Spano led Milligan in batting (.379), home runs (9), RBI (49), doubles (19), on-base percentage (.445) and slugging (.643). He ranked top-10 in the AAC in hits, doubles, total bases, sacrifice flies, slugging, batting average and RBI.

Senior Anthony Guzman was named to the AAC's Gold Glove Team in one of the two corner outfielder spots. Guzman collected 72 putouts without an error and threw out five runners on the basepaths. At the plate, he hit .325 with five home runs, 30 RBI and 35 runs scored.

Micah Carrier was Milligan's representative on the AAC Championships of Character Team. Brian Baxa, Garrett Bowman, Micah Carrier, Cade Davis, Cade Elliott, Augustus Fraley, Greene, Guzman, Casey Haire, Graham Hooker, Julius Hopkins, Logan Hullette, TJ Kuhn, Andrew Mathias, Parker Mumpower, Robert Salcedo, Spano, Jacob Poe and Herver Yang each earned AAC All-Academic status.

Milligan baseball posted its winningest season since 2009 with 34 regular season victories. The Buffs defeated St. Andrews 11-2 in the opening game of the AAC Tournament earlier today and square off with the winner of Tennessee Wesleyan and Montreat tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport.