WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. (April 16, 2019) â€" Milligan College's baseball team finished up its 2019 nonconference slate with an 11-4 loss at No. 7 University of the Cumberlands Tuesday night.
 
Senior Jeffrey Mefford struck out five in the first five innings of action, but one of the most productive offenses in the nation jumped out to an early lead and controlled the game most of the way. After Cumberlands (39-5) scored one run in the bottom of the second, Milligan (16-22, 7-14 AAC) tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third only to see Cumberlands score in each of the next four innings, including posting a four-spot in the sixth.
 
Blake Dutton drove in the tying run in the top of the third as one of Milligan's seven hits on the day.
 
Milligan, later trailing 9-1, worked the bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh, but a double play ended the threat.
 
In the eighth, the Buffs scored three runs to cut it to a five-run game. Kirby Smith drew a bases-loaded walk in the inning, and Baily Psathas drove in two with a two-out single to shallow left-center field. However, the big inning ended with a ground ball, and Cumberlands, the NAIA leader in home runs per game (1.98), hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead again.
 
Up next, Milligan plays its final home series of the regular season. In a three-game Appalachian Athletic Conference set, the Buffs will face St. Andrews University Monday, April 22, at 1 p.m. in a doubleheader followed by a single game Tuesday, April 23, beginning at 12 p.m. The games were pushed back due to the forecast of rain over the weekend.