McKENZIE, Tenn. (Feb. 1, 2014) â€" A failure to produce runs doomed Milligan College's baseball team to a pair of losses (4-1 and 5-1) to Bethel University (Tenn.) Saturday afternoon in an opening-day doubleheader.
 
Milligan (0-2) fell behind early in game one, surrendering a pair of runs on three hits in the second before watching the Wildcats (2-0) punch another run across on two hits in the third. The Buffs opened the scoring on their end in the sixth when Luke Kirk, with the score 3-0, drove in Corey McPherson on a two-out single to left.
 
Milligan starting pitcher Ethan Fleenor suffered the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks. He struck out three.
 
Kirk and McPherson each went 2-for-3 in game one. McPherson's run in the sixth came after reaching base on a double to right.
 
In game two, Kirk picked up where he left off in game one, singling and scoring in the first to put the Buffs on top in the early going, but Bethel, winners of the TransSouth Conference championship in 2013, responded with a run in the third and four more in the fifth to put the game away.
 
Starting pitcher Jake Watts took the loss despite four strong opening innings. The junior lasted four and two-thirds innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on three hits.
 
Kirk was 1-for-3 with a run in game two. Ernesto Fernandez also was 1-for-3, scoring Kirk on a two-out double in the opening frame.
 
Pending rain, the two clubs will conclude the series with a single game on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET. Milligan will be home on Saturday, Feb. 8 for a doubleheader against Johnson University.