Baseball season ends in AAC Tournament

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 4, 2023) – The Milligan University baseball team ended its season with a 6-3 defeat against Truett McConnell in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Hunter Wright Stadium.

The Buffs conclude their season with a 28-22 record. The 2023 season was Milligan's fourth-straight winning campaign under head coach Skyler Barnett, the longest such streak since 1991. Truett McConnell moves on to face the loser of Union and Tennessee Wesleyan tomorrow at noon.

A five-run second inning by Truett McConnell turned out to be too much for the Buffs to overcome. The Bears took advantage of two walks as TMU scored three of its five runs with two outs in the inning.

The Buffs scored a run in the third with Brandon Marello coming home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Logan Hullete. The Buffs had runners on first and third with two outs but could not add a second run in the inning.

TMU added a run in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly to go ahead 6-1. Milligan opened the top of the fourth with three-straight hits to bring the score to 6-2 with an RBI single by Angel Lobo. Another run scored on a double play to bring the margin to 6-3.

Creed Werker entered the game on the mound for the Buffs in the fourth inning. He proceeded to throw five scoreless innings, stranding two base runners in the fourth and leaving the bases loaded in the eighth.

The Buffs were limited to just two baserunners from the fourth-through-eighth innings as the game went to the ninth with TMU holding a 6-3 edge. The Buffs put a runner on first but could not bring the tying run to the plate as the Bears held on for the win.

Anthony Guzman led the Buffs with two hits. Guzman and Braden Spano each had a double.

Werker went five scoreless innings in relief with six strikeouts, two walk and two hits allowed.