Baseball falls to No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan in AAC Tournament

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 3, 2023) – The Milligan University team owned an early 4-0 edge but fell to No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan 14-4 in the Buffs' first game of bracket play at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament at Hunter Wright Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Buffs fall into the elimination bracket with a 28-21 overall record. TWU, who captured the AAC regular season crown with just one conference defeat, moves on in the winners bracket with a 41-7 record.

An RBI single from Caleb Berry gave the Buffs a 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Milligan's lead grew to 4-0 with an RBI single from Casey Haire, a passed ball, and a two-run single from Jack Sutton.

Creed Werker started on the mound for Milligan. He was able to record a pair of outs in the bottom of the first, but also gave up a barrage of runs as Tennessee Wesleyan took a 6-4 advantage. Five of these runs were earned, while one was unearned.

The Bulldogs increased their lead to 8-4 in the second after an RBI groundout and RBI double to left field.

It was not until the fourth inning that another run crossed the plate. This run was scored on an RBI double that followed a triple to left field, increasing the Bulldog lead once again to 9-4.

The TWU lead was improved to 12-4 as it scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fifth on a pair of RBI singles and a lone run in the sixth thanks to a sacrifice fly.

In the bottom half of the eighth, the Bulldogs immediately put a runner in scoring position with a triple to right field. An error allowed the run to score and followed by a RBI triple to close the game with a 14-4 margin.

Vince LaConte worked five innings in relief and struck out a team season-high 11 batters in the ballgame. He allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings.

Logan Hullette, Haire, and Braden Spano were the leading hitters for the Buffs as they each recorded a two hits.

Milligan returns to action on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. against Truett-McConnell.