DAYTON, Tenn. (March 31, 2018) â€" Milligan College head baseball coach Nathan Meade won his 300th game in a remarkable way Saturday afternoon. After dropping the opener of the three-game Appalachian Athletic Conference series against No. 9 Bryan College Friday night, Meade and the Buffs responded with a pair of upsets, 6-2 and 5-4, on Saturday to win the series two games to one.
 
The two wins were Meade's 299th and 300th career coaching victories. Milligan improved to 12-19 (6-9 AAC) after winning the AAC series, a feat no other team had done this season against the No. 9-ranked Lions (28-7, 12-3 AAC).
 
Both wins for Milligan on Saturday were aided by an early lead and a strong finish.
 
EARLY LEADS
Chris Patterson, who homered to lead off Friday's opener, led off game one with a single, then came around to score two batters later on a Jascanel Ferreras single. Ferreras made his way home shortly thereafter on a Clayton Conner single as the Buffs made it 2-0 before Bryan had its first at-bat.
 
Similarly in game two, Hunter Suggs gave the Buffs the early lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly to center field which scored Brandon Laboy.
 
STRONG FINISHES
Milligan went on to lead game one 3-0 and later 3-2 before reliever Dustin Cole came in to close the door on the Lions for the last three-plus innings. Cole helped the Buffs escape the sixth in a situation which saw Bryan get two runners on with two out. It was 3-2 in favor of Milligan at that point, and Cole went on to shut the Lions down over the last three innings, not allowing a base runner in the seventh, eighth or ninth.
 
Game two featured more scoring over the middle innings but still offered an exciting finish. Reliever Jacob Littleton was the one to close the final door, as he recorded the last five outs. In the seventh, Littleton worked around a leadoff single and Bryan ultimately putting the tying run on third by coaxing a couple of groundouts followed by a punchout to end the game.
 
ALONG THE WAY | GAME ONE
Camron Harper and Ferreras had a couple of key hits in game one. With Milligan already up 2-0, the pair made it 3-0 with back-to-back doubles with one out in the top of the third. Bryan responded in the bottom of the fourth with two runs to make it 3-2, but Milligan answered that response three innings later with three runs in the seventh.
 
Game one starting pitcher Garrett Hartley, who was ultimately part of a staff effort which allowed only three hits over the nine-inning game, gave up his only runs in the fourth. In fact, the Lions benefitted from those two runs despite Milligan getting the first two out in the inning. It was back-to-back walks followed by a double which scored both runs to make it 3-2.
 
By then the Buffs had all the runs they would need in game one but still added three runs of insurance in the top of the seventh. Suggs started the inning off with a walk, then a Patterson single and Harper triple later, the Buffs were ahead 5-2. Harper followed soon after scoring on a passed ball to round out the scoring in game one.
 
LEADERS | GAME ONE
On the hill, Nathan Atkinson made a relief appearance between Hartley and Cole, helping Milligan stay in the lead. The trio of Buff pitchers scattered three hits to the national top 10 and AAC-leading Lions.
 
At the plate, the top of the Milligan lineup was key in game one. Patterson went 3-for-5, Harper went 2-for-5, and Ferreras went 3-for-5 as the 1-2-3 hitters for Milligan. Combined, they were 8-for-15 with five runs and four RBI's.
 
ALONG THE WAY | GAME TWO
After Suggs' RBI made it 1-0 in the second inning of game two, Bryan came back to tie the game in the bottom half. The tie was only temporary, however, as Milligan took the lead for good with three runs in the third.
 
Harper and Ferreras were once again the keys to starting the rally. The pair led the third inning off with back-to-back singles, then Conner brought one of them home and sent the other to third with an RBI double. Later, Bryan Soto and Garrett Dalton made productive outs to score two more runs in the inning. Soto hit a sacrifice fly and Dalton drove in a run on a ground ball.
 
With Milligan in a 4-1 lead midway through the third frame, Bryan scored once in each of the next three innings. It would have been enough to tie the game again by the end of the fifth, but Laboy gave Milligan what would prove to be the winning run with a one-out RBI double in the top of the fifth. Soto scored on the play after reaching via walk.
 
LEADERS | GAME TWO
Jeffrey Mefford made the start in game two, pitching the first five innings before being relieved by Mike Perez and Littleton. Perez recorded the first out of the sixth before handing things over to Littleton for the final five outs of the game.
 
Offensively, three Buffs recorded multiple hits. Ferreras was 2-for-4, Laboy was 2-for-3, and Thomas Miller was 2-for-2. Ferreras went 5-for-9 for the day.
 
UP NEXT
Milligan hosts AAC foe Union College at Anglin Field over next weekend. Teams are scheduled to play a single game Friday at 6 p.m. followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 12 p.m. The Buffs will then only have one more home series left on the regular season schedule.