Baseball rallies to doubleheader sweep of Shawnee State

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (February 10, 2023) – The Milligan University baseball won both games of a doubleheader against Shawnee State on Friday at the TVA Credit Union Ballpark.

Anthony Guzman delivered the Buffs to an 8-7 win with a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh inning of game one. Despite an early 5-1 deficit in game two, the Buffs scored 14-straight runs to score a 15-5 win.

The Buffs move to 6-1 on the year while Shawnee State falls to 0-6.

Game 1 – Milligan 8, Shawnee State 7

Milligan starter Andrei Beal struck out the first six batters he faced in the opening game. The Buffs threatened in the second as Guzman and Casey Haire knocked base hits to open the inning. A one-out walk loaded the bases but a strikeout and flyout ended the inning.

Shawnee State got its first hit in the top of the third. A walk and flyout put runners on the corners with two outs. A second half loaded the bases and the Bears took used a two-out single to take a 2-0 lead.

Shawnee State used a hit batter, two walks and another two-out, two-run single to extend its lead to 4-0 in the top of the fourth.

The Buffs found a way to trim the deficit to 4-2 in the fourth inning. Haire singled and Jack Sutton doubled down the right field line to put runners on second and third with one out. A groundout by Logan Hullette brought home Haire and Andrew Mathias doubled home Sutton with a drive off the left field wall.

Shawnee State added three more runs in the top of the fifth to go ahead 7-2. The Bears found another two-out RBI single to plate the final two runs of the frame. The Buffs loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth but came up empty.

Mathias and Angel Lobo both walked in the six inning and came around to score on an RBI double into the right-center. Guzman followed with a double down the left-field line to score pinch runner Ethan Ammerman to make it a7-5 ballgame. Caleb Berry knocked in Guzman to trim the margin to 7-6 heading into the seventh.

Jimmy Gamboa sat down the Bears in order in the top of the seventh to bring the Buffs to the plate trailing by a single run.

Hullette led off the seventh with a double and Mathias advanced pinch runner Kobe Miles to third base with a sacrifice bunt. Brandon Marello tied the game with a single up the middle against a drawn-in infield. After a Lobo walk and a strikeout, Guzman smacked a walk-off single to left-center to give the Buffs the 8-7 victory.

Guzman wan Haire had three hits apiece. Spano had two hits, a double and joined Guzman with two runs batted in. Gamboa was the game's winning pitcher as he tossed 2.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

Game 2 – Milligan 15, Shawnee State 5

Shawnee State jumped out to a 5-1 edge through the game's two-and-a-half innings. The Buffs scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Guzman and an error.

Molinari made it a 5-4 ballgame in the bottom of the fourth by scoring on a wild pitch. The Buffs used a pair of walks and hit batsman to load the bases. Berry crushed a two-out grand slam to give Milligan an 8-4 edge going into the fifth.

The Buffs posted another five runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ryan Molinari reached on an error, Marello doubled and Haire plated both with a single. Guzman belted a two-run homer and Sutton smacked an RBI double to put the Buffs ahead 13-5.

Milligan plated two more runs in the sixth with Miles smacking a pinch hit RBI double and Ty Yurkovich lifting a sacrifice fly.

Chance Hall and Creed Werker each tossed two scoreless innings in relief. Hall picked up the win. Werker did not allow a hit and struck out three.

Guzman and Berry both homered and combined to drive in nine runs.

The Buffs wrap up their four-game series with Shawnee State with another doubleheader at TVA Credit Union Ballpark at 12:00 p.m.