Baseball drops regular season finale at Reinhardt

WALESKA, Ga. (April 29, 2023) – The Milligan University baseball team led early but fell 12-7 to Reinhardt in the Buffs' regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

Milligan closes the regular season with a 27-20 record and a 12-17 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) mark. Milligan heads into the conference tournament as the No. 9 seed. With the series sweep, Reinhardt secured the No. 2 seed in the AAC Tournament with a 31-16, 21-8 AAC record.

The Buffs jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the game's first four innings. Milligan scored a pair of runs on fielder's choices and Andrew Mathias drove in the other three. Mathias belted a two-run homer in the second inning and added an RBI single in the fourth.

Milligan starting pitcher Joe Ducharme held the Eagles off the scoreboard in the first five innings but the hosts broke through for three runs in the sixth. Angel Lobo extended Milligan's lead to 6-3 in the seventh with a run-scoring single. The Eagles narrowed the margin to 6-5 with a pair of runs in the home half of the frame.

Reinhardt used a seven-run eighth inning to take control of the ballgame and hold off the Buffs 12-7.

For the third time in the series, Milligan outhit Reinhardt in the game. Caleb Berry was 3-4 with a double. Jack Sutton had three hits and two runs scored. Mathias led Milligan with three RBI. Lobo had two hits and two RBI and Ty Yurkovich drove in a pair.

Milligan will play Tuesday in the opening round of the AAC Tournament at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport.