CLEVELAND, Ga. (March 9, 2018) â€" After a 15-run scoring frenzy from Milligan College's baseball team in game one, Jeffrey Mefford threw another gem in game two, but the Buffs settled for a split doubleheader Friday at Truett-McConnell University. Milligan won the series opener 15-4 but lost game two, 1-0.
 
QUICK BREAKDOWN
Game one featured four big innings from the Buffs. They scored four in the second and fourth on the way to an 8-0 lead through five, then added seven more runs over the last two innings. Truett scored all of its runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, only cutting it to 8-2 after seven and 11-4 after eight.
 
Mefford threw six quality innings in game two, striking out four and allowing only two hits and no earned runs. However, Truett-McConnell scored the game's lone run in the fifth which proved to be the difference.
 
GAME ONE HITTING
The Buffs rattled off 14 hits in the big win, and five players had multihit games. Clayton Conner led with a 3-for-5 effort while Bailey Russell was 2-for-3, Garrett Dalton and Hunter Suggs were 2-for-4, and Ryan Young was 2-for-5. Conner drove in four runs and scored twice.
 
GAME ONE PITCHING
Cameron Harper picked up the win going seven innings and allowing seven hits and three runs, two of which were earned. Harper walked three and struck out five.
 
Dustin Cole and Conor Cotton each saw an inning from out of the bullpen. Cotton struck out one in his inning of work.
 
GAME TWO HITTING
Milligan earned five hits in game two, and Thomas Miller and Suggs both had two-hit performances. Even still, Milligan had its chances to score. The Buffs put two runners on base in the second, third, fourth, and seventh but came up empty in each.
 
In the seventh, Suggs and Dalton started the inning off by reaching via a walk. The two were moved over on a wild pitch to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two out, but the inning came to an end on a couple of groundouts and a popout.
 
GAME TWO PITCHING
Mefford, who threw 6.2 innings without allowing a hit in his last start, came away with another tough loss versus Truett. The junior faced only one over the minimum across the first four innings before allowing an unearned run sting him for the loss in the fifth.
 
UP NEXT
Milligan and Truett-McConnell will decide the series Saturday morning starting at 9 a.m. The game time was moved up in order to avoid incoming rain forecasted for the afternoon. Milligan's next game after that is scheduled to be a home doubleheader against University of the Cumberlands on Tuesday, March 13. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.