MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 20, 2018) â€" A three-run surge in the fifth inning of game one helped the Milligan College baseball team win its second straight game, but the Buffaloes settled for a doubleheader split against Shawnee State University Tuesday afternoon at Anglin Field. Milligan won game one 7-5 but lost game two 7-5.
 
Ryan Young, Juan Vasquez and Thomas Miller had the RBI's to flip a 4-4 tie into a 7-4 lead for Milligan in game one. The rally helped the Buffs overcome two deficits in the game, including a three-run Shawnee State lead early on. In game two Milligan looked to do something similar by scoring three runs in the fifth and rallying in the bottom of the seventh, but the Buffs ultimately came up short.
 
EARLY IN GAME ONE
The Shawnee State Bears pounced to a 3-0 lead after the first half of the first inning but Milligan answered right back to tie the game in the bottom half. Garrett Dalton and Jascanel Ferreras started off the bottom half of the first with back-to-back singles, then Brandon Laboy hit a two-RBI single to left field to bring them both in.
 
Vasquez followed two batters later with a single up the middle which brought home Clayton Conner from second.
 
After Shawnee State once again took the lead, 4-3, in the top of the second, it was Andrew Stanifer who came around to score to tie in the bottom of the second. Stanifer came home via a Dalton groundout. Tied at 4-4 through two, both teams went scoreless through the next two and a half innings until Milligan pulled ahead with the three-run fifth.
 
GAME ONE LEADERS
Conor Cotton picked up the win in a relief effort that saw him strike out three in two innings of work. Cotton pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth while only allowing two hits and a walk. Jeffrey Mefford pitched the seventh and picked up the save, his first of the season.
 
At the plate, Dalton and Chris Patterson led with two hits, going 2-for-4 and 2-for-3, respectively.
 
LATE IN GAME TWO
After Shawnee State plated six runs in the fourth to go on top 6-1, Milligan looked to rally over the last few innings. Conner did most of the damage in the comeback with a two-run homer down the left field line which made it 6-4. Young then cut the deficit in half with a run-scoring single to left, driving home Bryan Soto to make it 6-5.
 
This was as close as Milligan came, as Shawnee scored one more in the sixth to round out the scoring at 7-5.
 
Milligan did load the bases in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but two pop outs ended the game.
 
GAME TWO LEADERS
Nine Buffs registered a hit, including Bailey Russell who went 2-for-3.
 
Starter Nathan Atkinson and reliever Connor Simpson both pitched three innings in game two but Atkinson was dealt the loss after allowing four runs on three hits and two walks.
 
UP NEXT
Milligan heads to Cochran, Georgia, for a nonconference three-game series at Middle Georgia State University Friday-Saturday. After that, the Buffs will be at home again on Friday-Saturday, March 2-3, for an Appalachian Athletic Conference series against Montreat College.