Milligan Baseball Wins Rollercoaster Extra-Innings Marathon against No. 2 TWU

ATHENS, Tenn. – The start of the Milligan University baseball team's first game of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) weekend series against No. 2-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan University was certainly a rollercoaster ride. The contest on Friday turned into an offensive track meet, as a total of three ties and five lead changes occurred with a combined 32 runs scored. In extra innings, the Buffaloes came out victorious by a final of 17-15 in 11 frames.

Neither side put up a tally in the first, but the Buffs got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second with a pair of round-trippers. Tank Hansen whacked a solo shot to center field and Gaven Jones hammered a two-run blast to center to bring home Angel Lobo, giving Milligan a 3-0 lead.

For TWU, it was back-to-back solo shots in the bottom of the second that cut into the 3-0 advantage, making it 3-2 for MU.

A sacrifice fly from Hansen in the third scored Brody Melton to double the Buffaloes' lead to 4-2, but the Bulldogs nabbed that run back with a sac fly of their own in the bottom of the frame.

The Buffs would the have their second scoreless inning of the tilt on offense, as the Bulldogs came away with two RBI doubles and a two-run homer to take a 7-4 lead into the fifth, giving themselves some breathing room. At least, that is what they thought.

That advantage immediately evaporated in the top of the fifth, when Hansen launched his second homer of the game, this time a three-run shot, to bring home Nick Iezzi and Braxton Baird. That tied the score at 7-7.

Two more solo bombs would be tallied by TWU in the bottom of the fifth, as the back-and-forth affair continued.

With a 9-7 deficit, the Buffs knew exactly what needed to be done. They delivered an RBI single from Baird to score Jones, as well as a RBI groundout by Melton to drive in Reagan Smith. The 9-9 tally on the scoreboard would then hold until inning number eight.

Tennessee Wesleyan's bottom of the eighth inning was the largest offensive output of the game to that point, as they tallied six runs on an RBI single, a wild pitch, a two-run homer and a two-RBI double, making it a seemingly insurmountable 15-9 Milligan deficit.

A never-say-die attitude was brought to the top of the ninth by the Buffaloes, as they first loaded the bases for Cade Kalehuawehe, who was hit by a pitch to force in a run. That made it 15-10. Then, Baird delivered a run-scoring single to drive Lobo in. Finally, to cap off a game-tying six-run inning, Melton lifted a grand-slam homer to knot the score at 15-15.

Following a scoreless 10^th by both sides, Milligan tacked on two runs to start the 11^th, as Kalehuawehe launched the tiebreaking solo long ball and Baird would score later on a wild pitch, putting Milligan on top for the first time since fourth inning.

A three-up-three-down bottom half of the 11^th clinched the victory in the first game of the three-game AAC set for the Buffaloes, 17-15.

Every single hitter in the MU starting lineup notched a hit or more. Baird was the team's leader with a 4-for-5 day at the dish, including a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Iezzi and Josh Lail both had three hits, while Lail had two doubles to his name. Kalehuawehe, Hansen and Jones had two hits apiece, as Hansen launched a pair of long balls and drove in five runs in total. Jones and Kalehuawehe each chased home two. Melton had just one hit, but it was an important one, as he hit the grand slam in the top of the ninth to tie the game and send it to extras.

Canyon Geren started the game but was plagued by the long ball, as he allowed five in five innings. He was replaced by Patrick Collins, who tossed 2.2 frames and allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits. Brady Thomas finished 0.1 innings in relief of Collins without allowing a run, and Austin Maxey was the hero, as he allowed just one hit across the last three innings of the battle to earn the win, which was his second of the year.

Following the wild win over the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs on Friday, MU will have a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, looking to win the series with one or two wins against TWU to hand the Bulldogs their second straight AAC series loss.