RIO GRANDE, Ohio. (April 5, 2016) â€" It was effective starting pitching that helped the Milligan College baseball team stay close on the road and pull out a pair of 9-6 and 3-2 victories over the University of Rio Grande Tuesday afternoon at Bob Evans Field.

The wins helped Milligan (17-17) get back to .500 overall on the year as the Buffaloes notched their second consecutive nonconference sweep after topping Fisher College twice back in early March. Rio Grande saws its five-game winning streak snapped as its record fell to 22-17.

Milligan's game one starter, Wyatt Richardson (1-1), pitched 5.1 innings while allowing only three earned runs (five total) to get his first win of the season. Milligan trailed 4-0 early on an error, but scored five runs in the top of the fifth to go ahead 5-4 and put Richardson in position to get the win.

The Buffs would add three runs in the top of the sixth and another in the seventh to put the opener out of reach with Jarrett Ramsey and Jacob Littleton finishing things off on the mound. Hunter Townsend was 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run, his fourth of his freshman campaign, Shane Salley was also 2-for-4 with a walk, and Blake Dutton had a RBI double.

Game two went nine innings, but it was starter Luke Spaulding who kept it tight with five shutout innings before exiting with six innings of work with two earned runs.

Hunter Suggs scored on an RBI single by Salley in the top of the third before the RedStorm's two runs in the sixth, and then Milligan tied it in the top of the seventh on a leadoff single by Dutton, a walk by Suggs and a run-scoring single by Bryan Soto to score the pinch runner, Nelson Schneider.

Schneider then showed up again in a big way with a leadoff walk to start the ninth. Schneider advanced to third on a bunt and a flyout, and then scored what would be the winning run on a wild throw by the RedStorm catcher on a pickoff attempt.

Similar to game one, Littleton and Ramsey teamed up late in game two as after Littleton (4-1) pitched the seventh and eighth innings to earn the win, Ramsey earned his first save of the year in the bottom of the ninth.

Next up, Milligan resumes Appalachian Athletic Conference action as the Buffs look to rebound after their three-game sweep at No. 20 Bryan College last weekend with a three-game home series against Union College. The Buffs will battle the Bulldogs in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, and a single game also at 1 p.m., on Sunday, April 10.