MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 16, 2017) â€" The Milligan College baseball team played its first home games of the 2017 season on Thursday, hosting NCAA Division II opponent, Northwood University. A costly fifth inning in game one and a series of tough innings in game two led to a pair of losses, 12-3 and 8-6 respectively.
 
Milligan (3-5, 0-0 AAC) had a few opportunities in the early innings of game one, but failed to score early. In the fifth inning, Northwood exploded for eight runs off of seven hits and put the game out of reach. The Buffs created some offense in the bottom of the sixth, but could not overcome Northwood's lead. A RBI single from Juan Vasquez scored Ryan Young from third and put Milligan on the board. During the next at-bat, Thomas Miller hit a sac fly to right field, scoring Clayton Conner. Hunter Suggs followed with a RBI double down the left field line, scoring Chris Patterson from third. That was all the offense the Buffs could generate in game one, and Northwood went on to win 12-3.
 
Game two had a more promising start for the Buffs than game one. Starting pitcher Luke Spalding only faced three batters in the top of the first, forcing a groundout, a flyout, and striking out a batter. During Milligan's first at-bat, Justin Pearson doubled deep to left to get things started. Next batter, Jascanel Ferreras singled to right-center and scored Pearson from second. After back-to-back walks, Julian Johnson singled to left and scored Ferreras and Clayton Conner to create a 3-0 lead.
 
Northwood responded with runs in three straight innings, creating a 7-3 lead after the fourth inning. Heading into the bottom of the eighth, Milligan trailed 8-4 and attempted a comeback. Vasquez reached base on a walk and two batters later, Pearson hit a two-run home run off of a 3-2 pitch and put the Buffs within two runs. However, the Northwood bullpen held on to close out the game 8-6.
 
Milligan returns to action Friday, Feb. 24, for game one of a three game series at Middle Georgia State. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.