Baseball clipped by No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan 3-2

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (March 5, 2023) – The Milligan University baseball team dropped a 3-2 ballgame to No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan in their Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series finale on Sunday afternoon.

Milligan falls to 10-9, 2-7 AAC. TWU moves to 16-1, 9-0 AAC.

The game began as a scoreless affair through the first four innings as both teams managed just one hit in the opening four frames. A walk and hit batsman gave Milligan a pair of baserunners in the first but left both stranded.

The Bulldogs finally scored off Buffs starter Vince LaConte the fourth inning with a solo home run. The TWU lead grew to 3-0 in the sixth with a pair of two-out runs.

TWU threatened again in the seventh by putting a pair of runners on with one out. Reliever Creed Werker posted back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.

In the home half of the seventh, Jaden Steagall walked and advance to third on a single off the bat of Jack Sutton. Sutton stole second to put runners on second and third with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning.

Milligan cut TWU's lead to a 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth when Casey Haire launched a two-run home run over the right-center field fence.

The Bulldogs put a runner on third base in the top of the ninth but Werker stranded him 90 feet away with a strikeout and a force out at second base.

The Buffs' put the leadoff man on in the ninth as pinch hitter Josh Lail walked but Milligan was unable to plate the tying run and fell 3-2.

Haire had two of the Buffs' four hits on the day and both of the team's RBI. LaConte allowed three earned runs in six innings of work. Weker tossed three scoreless innings in relief.

Milligan hosts Pikeville on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.