MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 9, 2018) â€" Brandon Laboy homered to give the Buffs the lead and Connor Simpson got two strikeouts to pitch himself out of a jam, all helping the Milligan College baseball team avoid a sweep with a victory over University of Rio Grande Friday evening in the nightcap of a doubleheader. Milligan won game two 4-3 after falling 3-1 in game one.
 
LABOY'S HOMER
Laboy completed Milligan's game two rally as he sent a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence to complete a three-run inning and give the Buffs a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth. His homer scored Chris Patterson who had singled earlier in the inning. In between the hits from Laboy and Patterson, Clayton Conner drove in the first run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.
 
SIMPSON'S RELIEF EFFORT
Simpson went the last two and 2/3 innings, striking out four while allowing only two hits and no walks in a scoreless effort. His scoreless effort was pushed to the limit in the top of the seventh as Rio put the first two batters on via base hits then had the tying run at third and go-ahead run at second with one out after a sacrifice bunt.
 
Two batters later, after an infield error, Rio had the bases loaded still with one out, but Simpson shut the RedStorm down with two punchouts.
 
The win helped Milligan avoid the sweep in the four-game series and moved the Buffs' record to 3-4 overall this season.
 
GAME TWO STATS
Patterson and Laboy paced Milligan's offense with two hits apiece, and Laboy added three RBI's. Nathan Atkinson made the start in the series finale and went three and 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs (one earned) while walking three and striking out one.
 
HARTLEY'S GAME ONE GEM
While the Buffs were defeated 3-1 in game one, freshman Garrett Hartley, in the second start of his collegiate career, pitched another solid game. Hartley struck out nine while walking two over six innings, surrendering only two hits, the first of which came in the top of the fourth to left field. Hartley was only one over the minimum through the first three innings and finished his start allowing only one run.
 
Hartley's nine strikeouts matched his previous start when he picked up the win against USC Beaufort last weekend in 5.1 innings.
 
Hartley looked to be in line for the win Friday in game one as the Buffs gave him a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second and maintained that lead through the end of the fifth.
 
EARLY EDGE IN GAME ONE
Clayton Conner got the Buffs on the board in the second inning after leading off with a double to the right-center gap, then scoring on an error two batters later. The lead was short lived, however, as Rio tied the game in the sixth before pushing two runs across in the ninth to win it.
 
RIO'S LATE RALLY IN GAME ONE
Rio managed to take the lead in the ninth inning as back-to-back singles, a wild pitch, a walk and an error all with two out brought two runs in for the RedStorm. Junior reliever Jeffery Mefford was saddled with the loss.
 
UP NEXT
Milligan will play a midweek game at home against Shawnee State University on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. After that, the Buffs will play a weekend series at Middle Georgia State Feb. 23-24.