Milligan College, Tenn. (April 19, 2013) --- The Milligan College baseball team held off a late Bryan College charge to take a 6-5 Appalachian Athletic Conference victory on Friday night at Anglin Field.
 
   After Bryan opened the game with two runs in the first inning, Milligan battled back as Corey McPherson (Johnson City, Tenn.) scored off a Tyree Jeffries (Jackson, Tenn.) single. The Buffaloes kept the inning going as Brandon Malone (Maryville, Tenn.) used a double to drive Luke Kirk (Gate City, Va.) and Blake Buck (Maryville, Tenn.) across home plate to give Milligan a 3-2 lead. Hunter Carpenter (Sneedville, Tenn.) scored in the bottom of the second to extend the Buffaloes lead to 4-2.

   Milligan added a run in the fourth inning when Brent Mercurio (West Palm Beach, Fla.) scored off a Bryan miscue, and the Buffaloes extended their lead to 6-2 as Jeffries used a sac fly to drive Kirk across home plate in the fifth inning. After a scoreless sixth inning, Bryan scored a run in the seventh inning to close the Milligan gap to 6-3.
 
   In the seventh inning, Bryan closed the gap with another run. However, Milligan escaped a bases loaded situation to end the inning. Bryan closed the gap to one run in the final inning, but the Buffaloes defense ended the side to take the victory.
 
   McPherson, Mercurio and Kirk were 2-for-4 at the plate, while Malone was 1-for-3 with two RBIs. On the mound, Ethan Fleenor (Johnson City, Tenn.) picked up the win just over seven innings of work. Fleenor allowed four runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Justin Johnson (Black Mountain, N.C.) earned a save in the game.
 
   With the win, the Buffaloes improve to 21-21 overall and 8-11 in conference action.
 
  The Buffaloes and Lions return to action on Saturday, April 20, with an AAC doubleheader. First pitch at Anglin Field is set for 1 p.m.