BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (April 28, 2017) â€" The Milligan College baseball team began its final series of the regular season on Friday, traveling to Appalachian Athletic Conference rival Union College. After being narrowly edged out in game one 4-3, the Buffaloes rebounded for a convincing 7-3 win in game two.
 
Milligan (23-26, 11-15 AAC) started both games with early 2-0 deficits after the first inning. In game one, the Buffalo offense struggled and failed to produce a single base runner in the first three innings. Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth, Jascanel Ferreras gave Milligan its first sign of life with a leadoff double. A few batters later, Bryan Soto brought Ferreras home with a sac fly to left and cut Union's lead in half.
 
The Buffs added two more runs and took its first lead of the game in the top of the fifth, starting with an RBI single from Hunter Suggs. During the next at bat, Ferreras continued to churn the offense with a RBI single of his own, scoring Suggs in the process. However, the lead did not last long, as Union responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth and held on to its 4-3 lead for the rest of the game.
 
Game two featured much better offense from Milligan as the team scored seven runs in four consecutive innings. In the top of the fourth, Ferreras doubled down the left field line and sent William Oliver home from second. Two batters later, Clayton Conner doubled as well and scored Ferreras. Those two runs gave Milligan the lead for good, putting the team up 4-3.
 
Milligan added three insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings and kept any thoughts of a Union rally at bay. In the fifth, both Oliver and Ferreras contributed with RBI singles, while in the sixth, Conner slammed the door shut with his third home run of the year.
 
Ferreras led the way in both games for Milligan, going 5 for 8 with three RBI's and two runs scored. Nathan Atkinson picked up the win in game two in relief of starter Austin Perry. Atkinson pitched four scoreless innings and only surrendered two hits.
 
The Buffs return to action for the series and regular season finale tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Union. With a win, Milligan has a chance to clinch the No.6 seed at the conference tournament, while a loss or a Truett-McConnell win would lock Milligan into the No.7 spot.