MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (April 19, 2016) â€" A fast start in game one gave the Milligan College baseball team a win but it was late scoring by University of the Cumberlands that doomed the Buffaloes in game two, and the two teams split a doubleheader Tuesday evening on Anglin Field. Milligan won the first 10-4 but lost the second 14-4.
 
In game one, Milligan scored early and often, jumping out to a 2-0 lead through one, 6-0 lead through two, 8-3 lead through three, and 10-3 lead through four. Tanner Peer had a two-RBI double in the bottom of the second which proved to be the eventual winning hit, while Shane Salley also drove in one of the runs with a double down the right field line in the second inning.
 
Salley ended the first game 3-for-4 with three RBI's, a double and a run. Andrew Copas was 3-for-4 with a run, and Peer and Tucker McPherson also had multiple hits.   
 
Starting pitcher Wyatt Richardson went the first two and two-thirds innings before letting Dustin Cole, Carlos Cueto and Jarrett Ramsey close out the last 4.1 innings without allowing a hit. Cole picked up the win with an effort which saw him throw 2.1 innings of middle relief.
 
In game two, both teams had good chances to score in their opening frame, but both came away empty and the game went scoreless until a bases-loaded walk put Cumberlands on top in the third. From there it became almost a replay of game one, only with the roles reversed.
 
After the Patriots pushed their first run across in the third, they added one more that inning to go up 2-0, and a two-run homer from Patriots catcher Zach McRoberts made it 4-0 in the fourth. Similar to the scoring in game one, Cumberlands led 2-0 after three, 6-0 after four, and 10-2 after five.
 
Milligan's two runs in the bottom of the fifth came on a Hunter Townsend sacrifice fly and a Bryan Soto double, and the Buffs added another two runs in the six on a wild pitch and a groundout by Copas.
 
Copas was Milligan's offensive leader, going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI in the nightcap.
 
Milligan will play two more road series, including an Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup at St. Andrews University this weekend, before returning home for the final series of the regular season. The final series will pit the Buffs against No. 6 Tennessee Wesleyan College on Saturday-Sunday, April 30-May 1.