JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 23, 2019) â€" Camron Harper went the distance in game one, pitching a complete game on the way to a 9-7 victory which evened the series, but the Milligan College baseball team lost game two 10-5 as Point University won the three-game Appalachian Athletic Conference series Saturday.
 
Milligan entered the series having won the last five games but had its winning streak snapped Friday afternoon in a 13-5 loss. After drawing the series even after game one of Saturday's doubleheader, the Buffs looked to win the series in the finale with some early chances but dropped their record to 10-14 (4-8 AAC). Point improved to 21-11 (6-6 AAC).
 
Harper provides offense, defense in game one win
Harper not only went the distance with his fourth complete game of the season, but he also added a 3-for-4, three-RBI effort from the plate. Milligan scored the majority of its runs in the fifth inning with a seven-run surge which made it 8-2.
 
Harper drove in two on a single in that inning, as did Juan Vasquez. Blake Dutton, who went 3-for-4, had an RBI single, and Chayse Frye had an RBI double.
 
On the mound, Harper battled through a slow start which saw Point score a run just four pitches into the game. After that, he settled in to limit the Skyhawks to two runs over the next seven-plus innings. It was not until the ninth that Point tagged him for more than one run.
 
Harper's final line was nine innings pitched, 13 hits, seven runs, no walks and seven strikeouts. Nearly half of Point's runs came in the final inning on a three-run homer to left.
 
Milligan loses early lead in game two
An error, a Baily Psathas sacrifice fly and a two-out, RBI single by Alex Morales saw Milligan lead 3-0 after two innings of game two. However, Point answered with three runs in the third, two in each of the fourth and fifth innings, and three over the last two innings to run away with the victory.
 
Jeffrey Mefford made the start and suffered the loss as he surrendered Point's tying run in the third and go-ahead run in the fourth.
 
Milligan looked to battle back and draw even as Snaider Torrealba doubled in two runs to make it 7-5 in the fifth. In fact, Braden Jones looked to tie the game with a two-RBI hit two batters later, but his would-be run-scoring single was snagged on a diving attempt by Point right fielder Carnegy Calzado to end the inning.
 
Dutton and Torrealba led the Buffs offensively with a 2-for-4 effort in the nightcap.
 
Up next
Milligan hits the road for the next five games, starting with a nonconference doubleheader at Shawnee State University Tuesday in Portsmouth, Ohio. The Buffs will travel to No. 6 Tennessee Wesleyan University over next weekend.