Buffs advance to final day of AAC tournament with 14-2 win over Montreat

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 7, 2022) – The Milligan University baseball team defeated Montreat College 14-2 in an elimination game of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Milligan climbs to 36-20 while Montreat falls to 33-26.

Milligan scored five runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to an early lead. Brandon Marello leadoff with a single through the left side of the infield followed by Anthony Guzman who was hit by a pitch. In a sacrifice bunt attempt from Justin Greene in the next at-bat, a Montreat throwing error allowed for two Buffalo runs to cross the plate. Braden Spano then ripped a base hit into right center to bring Greene around to score before another Cavalier error led to another Milligan run in the following at-bat. Andrew Mathias then came through with a one-out single to center field to give the Buffs a 5-0 lead after one.

After a Montreat home run in the top half of the third, the Buffs added two more runs on two hits in the bottom of the inning. Spano began the frame with a double down the left field line before Josh Lail reached base via an error from the Cavaliers. A sacrifice bunt from Eric Rigsby moved both baserunners up 90 feet to give the Buffs two in scoring position before a one-out base hit up the middle from Mathias put Milligan ahead 7-1.

The Buffs exploded for another five runs in the bottom half of the fifth on three hits and one Montreat error. After a hit by pitch and base on balls to start the inning, Robert Salcedo executed a sacrifice bunt to perfection to give Milligan two baserunners in scoring position with one out. Following a hit by pitch to load the bases, Marello singled through the left side of the infield to pick up two RBIs before Guzman drilled an RBI-double down the left filed line to plate another. Two batters later, Spano laced a two-RBI single back up the middle to give Milligan the lead 12-1 through five.

Following two punchouts to begin the bottom half of the seventh, Guzman singled down the left field line to give the Buffs one on with two outs. Greene followed up with an RBI-double, this time down the opposite base line, to put Milligan in front 13-1.

Rigsby led off the home half of the eighth with a double to left field before Mathias picked up a base hit to center field. Now with runners on first and third, Salcedo scored Rigsby with an RBI-single to left and moved Mathias up a base into scoring position. After a single through the left side of the infield by Brandon Marello, a ground ball double play ended the inning with Milligan out in front 14-1.

Montreat scratched across one run in the top of the ninth before the Buffs finished the job with a complete-game performance by Brock Browning. Browning tossed a six-hit, two-earned gem to go along with three strikeouts and only one walk to earn the win in the win-or-go-home matchup with the Cavaliers.

The trio of Spano, Mathias, and Marello powered the Buffs offensively as they combined to go 9-15 with eight RBIs and five runs scored. Rigsby and Guzman also collected multi-hit days and combined to score a total of six runs for the game. As a team, Milligan came away with 16 hits in 35 trips to the plate with three of those being extra base hits.

The Buffs will return to the diamond tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. for a rematch with No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan in the semifinal matchup of the AAC tournament.