KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 3, 2018) â€" Chris Patterson hit a pair of triples, including one that swung the lead in the bottom of the seventh, and the Milligan College baseball team came from behind to defeat Montreat College 6-4 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament Thursday at Hunter Wright Stadium.
 
Facing elimination, Milligan (19-30, 11-16 AAC) kept its season alive and will play again Friday at 9 a.m. Patterson, Chandler Daniels and Jacob Littleton had the key efforts in leading Milligan to the win.
 
PATTERSON
Patterson tripled and scored to help Milligan cut into a 4-1 Montreat lead in the bottom of the fourth, but it was his triple in the bottom of the seventh which swung the lead in Milligan's favor. With two out and men on first and third in a 4-3 ballgame, Patterson smacked the first pitch he saw off the wall in deep right center field, scoring two to make it 5-4, Milligan.
 
Patterson finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI's and a run scored.
 
DANIELS
Daniels entered the game to pitch in place of starter Jeffrey Mefford partway through the second inning and ended up carrying the Buffs through 6.1 innings of scoreless relief. Milligan trailed Montreat 4-0 and the Cavaliers had runners on first and second with one out when Daniels entered the game, but the senior needed only three pitches to get Milligan out of the inning with no more damage.
 
Daniels went on to face only one over the minimum over the next four innings. He was the winning pitcher with a line of 6.1 innings, four hits, no runs, no walks and three strikeouts.
 
LITTLETON
After a pair of two-out singles by Montreat put the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the top of the eighth, Littleton entered in relief of Daniels and was as effective as Daniels in closing the game. Littleton punched out Montreat's designated hitter on four pitches to end the eighth-inning threat, then escaped self-induced trouble in the ninth.
 
Littleton picked up the save with a line of 1.1 innings, one hit, no runs, no walks and one strikeout. In the ninth, Montreat put the first two hitters on, then bunted them to second and third. With one out and the tying run on base, Littleton coaxed a pair of groundouts to third baseman Bailey Russell to end the game.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Garrett Dalton matched Patterson with a two-hit game, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Hunter Suggs provided a big RBI in the eighth inning with a two-out single which scored Dalton to make it 6-4.  
 
Jascanel Ferreras had one of the game's other RBI's by driving home Dalton in the seventh on a groundout moments before Patterson's second triple. Thomas Miller also drove in a run with a productive out in the fourth, scoring Patterson by beating out a would-be double play ball.
 
UP NEXT
Milligan will again face elimination in its next game. The Buffs are scheduled to face the loser of No. 19 Tennessee Wesleyan University and Reinhardt University Friday at 9 a.m. The winner of that game will face the Wesleyan/Reinhardt winner Friday at 4 p.m.