Buffs Baseball Outpaced by No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan, Drops Two AAC Bouts

ATHENS, Tenn. — Milligan University's baseball squad concluded their three-game set with a doubleheader in Athens, Tenn. against the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan University. It was not a banner day for the Buffs, as they struggled to contain the TWU offense in 11-5 and 13-0 losses to the nationally-lauded program.

Tennessee Wesleyan score the first four runs of game one in the third inning, as they had an RBI single and a three-run homer to take a 4-0 advantage.

The Buffaloes scored one in the top of the fourth via a fielder's choice by Josh Lail that chased in Brody Melton, making it 4-1.

A two-run fourth for TWU on two solo blasts made it 6-1, before the Bulldogs did the exact same thing in the fifth to make it 8-1.

Runs number nine and 10 for the Bulldogs came on an RBI double in the sixth and a run-scoring single in the seventh, putting the Buffs down by nine, 10-1.

Milligan finally struck for some offense of their own in the eighth, as a Brody Melton single scored Gaven Jones and a two-run knock by Nick Iezzi brought in Melton and Skyler Saunders to make it a 10-4 ballgame.

A solo homer in the eighth capped TWU's scoring, as they eventually won 11-5 after an RBI groundout in the ninth by Landon Lutterman for the Buffaloes, scoring Lail.

A whole host of runs by the TWU offense across the first three innings put the Buffs in a massive hole to get things under way. A two-run homer in the first, followed by a four-run second and a seven-run third, doomed Milligan in a 13-0 loss.

Milligan had just nine combined hits, with Melton (2-for-5), Iezzi (2-for-4) and Jones (2-for-4) combining for six of them.

The Buffaloes' starting pitchers had difficult days on the bump, as Spencer Rife was tagged for eight runs on nine hits across five frames in the first battle. Jacob Poe gave up three runs on six hits to close that contest.

In his first rough outing of the year, Jacob Bishop allowed 11 runs (eight earned) on 10 hits over two innings. Creed Werker gave up two unearned runs in three innings and T.J. Kuhn hurled a scoreless stanza.

The Friday win helped Milligan salvage a victory on the weekend, as the squad now looks ahead to a midweek tune-up against the Alice Lloyd College Eagles in Pippa Passes, Ky. on Wednesday, Apr. 2.