JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 7, 2019) â€" Jeffrey Mefford turned in six shutout innings while the offense provided plenty of run support to lead Milligan College's baseball team to an 8-0 victory over Bluefield College in the rubber game of a three-game Appalachian Athletic Conference series Sunday afternoon.
 
Milligan (13-19, 6-12 AAC) scored five runs before Bluefield (18-16, 8-10 AAC) recorded the second out in the bottom of the first inning. It helped Mefford set himself on cruise control, and Mefford was plenty effective in that state.
 
Mefford (1-3) faced only six over the minimum and retired 14 of the last 17 batters he faced. His winning line included six shutout innings, four hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Mefford's only two threatening innings were the second and fifth when he allowed two on with less than two out, but he escaped both frames unscathed after a strikeout and a groundout.
 
Milligan's five runs in the first inning came off several different bats. An error got the first run home, then Chayse Frye (double), Isaac Barkley (sacrifice bunt), William Oliver (triple) and Braden Jones (single) all drove home additional runs. The Buffaloes then padded the lead even further with a Frye RBI-double in the second, a Snaider Torrealba RBI groundout in the fourth and a Barkley solo homer in the seventh.
 
Barkley's home run was his fourth of the season and second of the series.
 
Juan Vasquez, Frye, Torrealba and Oliver all posted two-hit games. Frye and Torrealba both recorded two RBI's, and Camron Harper and Vasquez both scored two runs.
 
On the defensive end, Blake Lucas, Wyatt Richardson and Chance Hall threw an inning apiece across the seventh, eighth and ninth. All three helped keep the shutout in order as Milligan combined for its first shutout of the season. Hall struck out two in a perfect ninth.
 
Up next, Milligan plays at home Wednesday against Shawnee State University before returning to AAC action Friday and Saturday against No. 24 Bryan College, also at home.