Greenville, S.C. (February 11, 2022) — The Milligan University baseball defeated Bob Jones University 5-1 in a nonconference matchup Friday evening.
Milligan moves to 7-3 on the year while Bob Jones begins the 2022 season 0-1.
In the bottom half of the first, Bob Jones took advantage of two base on balls to the first two hitters and later scored a run on a balk to tie the game at one going into the second inning. Andrei Beal struck out two batters for the first two outs after the balk and got the third out on a ground out to third base.
Milligan scored one run in the third inning after Anthony Guzman walked, stole second base, advanced to third base, and then crossed the plate on a passed ball to give the Buffs a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the third.
After striking out the side in the bottom of the fourth, the Milligan offense scored again in the top of the fifth thanks to a Guzman single and a Braden Spano double in the gap. Spano's double scored Guzman all the way from first base to make the score 3-1 Buffs.
In the top of the eighth, Gavin Jones stole second and third base and later scored on a passed ball to give Milligan a 4-1 advantage going into the final inning.
After a ground out in the first at bat of the ninth, Guzman picked up his third single on the night. After stealing second base, Justin Greene plated him with an RBI double. In the home half of the ninth, the Buffs recorded two strikeouts and a ground out to first base to go home with a 5-1 victory on the road.
Beal was electric on the bump for Milligan going seven innings, allowing just one hit, one earned run, and picking up 16 strikeouts along the way.
Marello finished the night with two hits in five trips to the plate and also scored a run. Guzman went three-for-four on the night and scored three runs. Greene recorded an RBI double and Spano went two-for-five with two runs batted in and a double.
The Buffs return to the diamond tomorrow for game two of the three game series with Bob Jones at 12:30 p.m.
