Buffs fall to No. 2 TWU in semifinal round of AAC Tournament

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 8, 2022) – The Milligan University baseball team was defeated by No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan 5-4 in a semifinal matchup of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The Buffs closed out the 2022 season with a 36-21 record while TWU now sits at 50-5 for the year.

The Buffs were the first team on the scoreboard in the rematch with the Bulldogs as they darted out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Brandon Marello began the inning with a leadoff single to right, advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt, then moved up to third base on a wild pitch. An RBI base knock from Justin Greene in the following at bat plated Marello before a one-out double from Braden Spano brought Greene around to score.

Milligan added two more runs on two hits in the top of the third to take an early 4-0 lead. After a hit by pitch to begin the inning, Josh Lail laced a pitch down the right field line to give the Buffs baserunners on the corners with one out. Eric Rigsby then laid down a perfect sac-bunt to score Greene from third base while advancing Lail into scoring position. Following a fly out to center for out number two, Robert Salcedo converted the scoring opportunity with an RBI-single to left field.

Tennessee Wesleyan answered with two runs of their own in the home half of the third to trim the deficit to just two runs. Following a pop-out to shortstop to begin the inning, a one-out double down the left field line followed by a home run over the right field wall got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard for the first time in the ballgame.

The Bulldogs scratched across another run in the bottom half of the fourth on three hits in the inning. After a groundout back to the pitcher to begin the frame, three singles in a row from Tennessee Wesleyan loaded the bases with one out. A fielder's choice in the next at-bat scored the runner from third base before a six-three groundout ended the Bulldogs chances of doing any more damage.

A one-out base hit followed by a two-out RBI-double from Tennessee Wesleyan knotted the game at four runs apiece in the home half of the seventh inning.

Following a quiet eighth and ninth, the game headed into extras with the Buffs due up in the top of the tenth. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, a hit by pitch gave Milligan some life with a runner on first base and two outs. A line-out to third base for out number three ended the frame before the Buffs could start a rally.

In the bottom of the tenth, the Bulldogs walked it off on a single through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded to win the game 5-4 and advance to the AAC championship.

Spano turned in a solid day at the plate going two-for-five with two doubles and an RBI. Salcedo also had a good day at the dish with two hits and an RBI while Guzman picked up another couple of hits in four trips to the plate. As a team, the Buffs finished with nine hits in 35 plate appearances and left ten runners on base.

Chance Hall left it all on the mound for Milligan in the do-or-die matchup going seven innings allowing 11 hits and four earned runs while striking out six and walking only one to the number two team in the country in Tennessee Wesleyan.

The Buffs baseball team concludes the 2022 season with a loss to TWU in the AAC tournament.