COLUMBIA, S.C. – On Thursday, Milligan University's baseball team began the three-game series with the Columbia International (S.C.) Rams with a scheduled nine-inning game under the lights to open the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) set. In a game where the strikeout was king, the Buffaloes outlasted an upset-hungry Rams squad by pulling off a 5-4 win in 15 innings.

The Buffaloes scored first in the very first trip to the plate, as Nick Iezzi hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Miller Spence from third base after he came in as a courtesy runner for Cade Kalehuawehe. The Buffaloes led 1-0 after one half inning.

Milligan's next tallies came in the top of the fourth, when a leadoff triple by Gaven Jones was followed by yet another RBI from Iezzi, this time on a groundout to second base. Brody Melton subsequently doubled and stole third, later coming across on a wild pitch to grab a 3-0 lead for MU after three-and-a-half.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Buffs coughed up their lead, allowing three unearned runs to score, as the Buffs recorded two outs with two runners aboard and ended up committing an egregious throwing error to allow the first runner to score. Then, a two-run single tied the game at 3-3.

The offenses stalled until the 13^th inning, when the Buffs scored on a wild pitch, as Melton crossed the dish to make it 4-3. Then, though, CIU also picked up a run on a two-out RBI single. That made it 4-4 at the end of 13.

A scoreless 14^th inning by both sides, including a strikeout by Milligan pitching with the bases loaded and a full count on the batter, set the game up for a 15^th frame. After a strikeout to start the top of the 15^th, Melton and Luis Quintero provided back-to-back doubles to give MU the lead again at 5-4. Later, a bases-loaded, two-out situation ended up in a strikeout to end the frame with just the one run.
Milligan struck out the Rams in order in the bottom of the 15^th to end the game in a 5-4 win in extra innings.

The Buffaloes' offense struggled mightily, striking out a whopping 19 times in the win. The team had 12 hits in the battle, with several players earning seven at-bats in the tilt. A quintet of Buffaloes provided two hits in the effort, as Braxton Baird (2-for-7, BB, SB, 2 K), Kalehuawehe (2-for-6, BB), Melton (2-for-7, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 SB, 2 K), Josh Lail (2-for-6, BB, 2 K) and Devin Gutierrez (2-for-5, 2 BB, K) were those responsible. Jones went 1-for-5 with a run scored and two walks, while striking out a pair of times. Lastly, Quintero ended up with the game-winning hit on his RBI double to round out his 1-for-7 day with a double and four punchouts.
 
It was once again a Canyon Geren special on the hill, as the star rotation leader twirled seven full innings of two-hit ball. With that, he struck out nine hitters, and he threw just 93 pitches to do so. Justin Schnell, his replacement, had some early command issues. He plunked two hitters, but he then retired two before allowing the three unearned runs. He tossed two full innings and allowed just one hit. Tucker Webb had a phenomenal three innings, allowing no hits and striking out a pair, while Brycen Denton allowed one unearned run on four hits across 1.2 innings, tallying four punchouts in the process. Lastly, it was Sai Vickers that slammed the proverbial door in the face of the Rams, striking out four hitters in 1.1 innings for his first collegiate win.

This may not have been the way that Milligan (10-1, 3-1 AAC) envisioned this series beginning, but in the end a win is a win. The Buffs will be back at it on Friday in Columbia, facing off with these Rams in a doubleheader, with the nine-inning game one starting at 4 p.m.