MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (March 22, 2014) â€" Milligan College's baseball team might have seen its six-game winning streak snap in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, but no one at Anglin Field would complain about it being a bad day as the Buffaloes rallied from a nine-run deficit to beat Reinhardt University 10-9 in extra innings in the nightcap of the AAC twinbill.
 
Game one's score was 5-2 Reinhardt (23-10, 8-3 AAC).
 
Milligan (13-9, 6-5 AAC) trailed 9-0 through the top half of the sixth inning of game two before roaring back with seven runs in the sixth, two more in the seventh, and the walk-off, winning run in the eighth.
 
The Buffs were down to their final strike on two at-bats but never quit. With two out and one on in the potential final inning of a 9-7 ballgame, Chavez Golden fouled off a pair of 0-2 pitches before pushing a single through the right side to put runners on first and second. Edwin Soto followed with a single to right field to load the bases, and Tyler Weir delivered the game-tying hit three pitches later, on a 1-2 count, with a high chopper up the middle, scoring two.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Blake Buck led off with a pinch-hit single to right field before Cody Hyder, running for Buck, went first-to-third on Corey McPherson's base hit to the same side. After Reinhardt chose to intentionally walk Luke Kirk and bring the infield in, Brandon Malone drove in the winning run with a grounder through the left side, past the diving mitt of Reinhardt third baseman Justin Schlie.
 
Corey Jenkins, who threw 17 pitches in a perfect top half of the eighth, was the winning pitcher. Jenkins received his first decision, striking out one in the single inning of work.
 
Starting pitcher Jake Watts surrendered six runs on eight hits and a walk but did not factor into the decision as Weir took him off the hook with his two-out single in the seventh. Watts lasted 2.2 innings and struck out one.
 
In the sixth, Milligan batted around the order and scored six runs before the Eagles could record the first out. Soto dealt the most damage in the inning, ripping a bases-loaded triple to deep right-center field to make it 9-6. Soto then scored on a Weir single to make it 9-7. Weir and Soto were both 2-for-4 with three RBI's. Malone was 3-for-4 with two RBI's and two runs.
 
Reinhardt starting pitcher Blake Marbut was sharp over the first five frames, holding the Buffs to two hits and no runs, but came undone in the sixth when he allowed the first four to reach base. Reinhardt turned to three relievers, two in the sixth inning, but could not find a way to slow the Milligan offense. Trent Sheffield was brought in first but hit a man, walked another, then allowed Soto's base-clearing triple.
 
Reinhardt's Luke Maxwell (1-1) faced four batters in the eighth but did not record an out. He was the losing pitcher.
 
Milligan's lineup went 11-for-17 (.647) with four walks and a hit batter over the final three innings. Soto's three-bagger was Milligan's only extra base hit of the game.
 
Game one
 
Reinhardt jumped on top early in the first game, doubling home a run in the first then scoring three more in the second. Reinhardt right fielder Tucker Adams hit a solo home run on the first pitch of the second, after Hunter Carpenter had tied the game at one with a two-out double in the bottom of the first.
 
Carpenter and Kirk were both 2-for-3 in the losing effort. Starting pitcher Ethan Fleenor threw five innings and allowed five runs on 12 hits and no walks with no strikeouts. Justin Freeman relieved Fleenor (2-5) for the last two innings and kept the visiting Eagles scoreless on one hit.
 
Reinhardt starter Zach Cagle (6-1) pitched a complete game, striking out four on the way to his league-leading sixth win of the season.
 
Milligan and Reinhardt will conclude the series Sunday at 2 p.m. on Anglin Field.