MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (March 26, 2016) â€" Facing a 1-and-2 count with two out and a runner on first base, Bryan Soto launched his second home run of the season to left field to cap off a series win over Reinhardt University and send the Milligan College baseball team to a 6-5 victory Saturday afternoon at Anglin Baseball Field.
 
After splitting with the Eagles in two 3-2 games Friday, the Buffs won by the same margin again on Sunday for Milligan's (15-14 overall, 8-4 AAC) 10th win in 14 games and third Appalachian Athletic Conference series win in four tries. Milligan also moved into second in the AAC in wins with eight, while Reinhardt saw its record fall to 22-12 and 6-6 with its seventh loss in nine games.
 
In all, it was Soto's second walkoff of his sophomore season after he was hit by a pitch to end the game against Fisher College back on March 9. Soto's at bat was made possible by Hunter Suggs, who after two strikeouts to start the bottom of the ninth, hit a single up the middle that was just out of the reach of the Eagles' diving shortstop.
 
After scoring once in the eighth to cut into Reinhardt's 5-3 lead, the Buffs were in jeopardy of going down by two runs again in the ninth before Jacob Littleton got a swinging strikeout to strand an Eagles' runner on third base. Littleton earned his third win of the season with a scoreless inning, and is now second on the team in the category.
 
Before the pair came up clutch in the final inning, Soto and Suggs teamed up in the third to give Milligan a 1-0 lead. Three straight hits, capped by back-to-back doubles by Suggs and Soto, brought in Suggs for the first run of the game and the first of Suggs' two runs scored. Overall, Soto was 3-for-5 with three runs batted in, Suggs was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, and Shane Salley was 2-for-3 with two runs and a walk. Additionally, Soto, Suggs and Salley each recorded one of the games' six doubles.
 
Codie Campbell got the start for the Buffs, and was hampered by only one bad inning in which he gave up three runs, three hits and two wild pitches in the fourth inning. Campbell's other five innings of action featured only three hits and one walk, while he finished with a strong nine punchouts.
 
Milligan added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game back up at 3-3. Suggs recorded the RBI in the fifth to score Andrew Copas, who reached on a leadoff walk, and Justin Pearson's single in the sixth scored Salley, who stayed hot from the plate and was on base for the third time in his first three plate appearances of the day.
 
Dustin Cole, who entered the contest with a 0.00 ERA and no runs allowed in 16 innings of work on the year, saw his perfect start to the season end with an unearned run in the seventh and a leadoff home run in the eighth.
 
Down two runs in the bottom of the eighth, Milligan then used singles by Soto and Thomas Miller to get runners on first and second with two out. Salley, who replaced Soto on a fielder's choice before Miller's at bat, scored from second on Pearson's grounder to short that resulted in two errors by the Eagles shortstop. Pearson and Miller advanced to second and third to bring the tying and go-ahead runs in to scoring position, but a flyout by Copas ended the inning.
 
Milligan will hit the road to Dayton, Tennessee, to face off against No. 20 Bryan College next weekend, Friday-Saturday, April 1-2. The Buffs then return to Anglin Field for a three-game set with Union College on Saturday-Sunday, April 9-10.