LAURINBURG, N.C. (April 21, 2018) â€" A lead change late in game one and one bad inning early in game two saw the Milligan College baseball team lose twice on Saturday to Appalachian Athletic Conference foe St. Andrews University, 7-5 and 11-1. Although Milligan won the opener of the three-game series Friday night, St. Andrews used the doubleheader to win the series two games to one.
 
This snapped a run of three straight series won by Milligan and dropped the Buffs to 18-26 (11-13 AAC) on the season.
 
QUIET START, LOUD FINISH | GAME ONE
What started as a pitchers' duel that was speeding along turned into a scoring fest in the late innings. Milligan trailed 2-0 in the eighth but plated three runs to take the lead only to see St. Andrews answer with five in the bottom half. Jascanel Ferreras and Clayton Conner hit back-to-back two-out doubles to swing the lead in the top of the eighth, Ferreras' scoring Garrett Dalton and Hunter Suggs to tie the game. Conner followed moments later with a double to trade places with Ferreras and put Milligan up 3-2.
 
Milligan's lead was short lived, however. In the bottom of the eighth, the first seven batters reached base before St. Andrews plated five runs on three hits, three walks and an error.
 
Milligan was able to put two runs across in the top of the ninth to trim the deficit to 7-5, but SAU starting pitcher Zach Saylor finished his complete game with a flyout to left.
 
STATISTICS | GAME ONE
Camron Harper made the start and went the first seven innings, striking out only one but pitching effectively to limit the Knights to two runs (one earned). Harper ran into some trouble in the fourth but held the St. Andrews to one run. After a double, walk and double started the inning by scoring one and putting runners on second and third with nobody out, Harper induced three ground balls to keep the rest of the inning scoreless.
 
At the plate, Ferreras and Conner both recorded multihit games with 2-for-4 efforts.
 
ONE BAD INNING | GAME TWO
Similar to game one, the two teams were cruising through in the early going, but a seven-run fourth by St. Andrews put the Knights way out front for good. St. Andrews benefitted from five hits and two errors in the inning on the way to winning the rubber game.
 
STATISTICS | GAME TWO
Starting pitcher Jeffrey Mefford went the first three innings and gave up the first portion of damage in St. Andrews' big fourth inning. Dustin Cole went the next two innings. The pair combined to allow 10 runs, but only four of them were earned.
 
The Buffs' bats were quiet as Chris Patterson (2-for-3), Bailey Russell (2-for-4) and Suggs (1-for-2) were the only ones to register a hit. Russell recorded an RBI, scoring Patterson as Milligan's only run in the top of the fifth.
 
UP NEXT
Milligan will finish the regular season with a three-game AAC set versus No. 23 Tennessee Wesleyan University next weekend. Teams are scheduled to play a single game Friday at 6 p.m. followed by a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. The AAC tournament is slated for Wednesday-Saturday, May 2-5, at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tennessee.