CLEVELAND, Ga. (March 14, 2014) â€" Ethan Fleenor tossed seven shutout innings, and the Milligan College baseball team defeated Truett-McConnell College 4-1 in the AAC series opener Friday.
 
Milligan (9-8, 3-4 AAC) and Truett-McConnell (6-19, 1-6 AAC) will conclude the series with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 12 p.m.
 
Fleenor struck out three while scattering four hits and a pair of walks to improve to 2-4 this season. Through the first five innings, he faced only two batters over the minimum and was perfect in every frame except the third.
 
Milligan took the lead with a three-run surge in the top half of the fifth. Corey McPherson, Hunter Carpenter and Chavez Golden drove in Milligan's runs in that inning, two of which were scored with two out.
 
In the top of the eighth, Luke Kirk gave the Buffaloes an insurance run, driving in Sam Tarlton on an infield single.
 
Truett-McConnell got one of the runs back in the ninth on Bears catcher Tate Gaines' RBI-single.
 
Kirk, Golden, Edwin Soto and Tarlton all finished with multiple hits. Tarlton was 2-for-3 and also scored twice.
 
After concluding the series with TMC on Saturday, Milligan will return home for a midweek tilt against Southern Wesleyan University Wednesday, March 19 at 5 p.m.