MILLIGAN, Tenn. – Following the cancellation of Friday's single game at Union Commonwealth University in Barbourville, Ky., the (RV) Milligan University baseball team notched a pair of non-conference wins over the visiting Bulldogs in simple fashion by final scores of 12-2 and 11-2, with both games concluding in seven innings. To make things even sweeter, head coach Skyler Barnett earned his 200^th career victory with the game-two triumph.

Game one, a scheduled nine-inning contest, began with a two-run bottom of the first for the Buffs. After back-to-back singles by Braxton Baird and Gaven Jones, Brody Melton singled through the middle to drive Baird across for the first run of the ballgame. The next batter, Luis Quintero, would then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to chase home Jones for a 2-0 lead.

The Bulldogs led off the top of the second with a double, and that runner found his way to third with two outs. A wild pitch would allow him to score, making it a 2-1 MU lead entering the bottom of the second.

The score remained there until the bottom of the third, when calamity struck for the Bulldogs, as they committed three errors in the inning that led to a total of seven unearned runs. With one out and Cade Kalehuawehe on first, back-to-back fielding errors loaded the bases for Wyatt Heidle, who unleashed a low laser over the left field fence down the line to drive in four with a grand slam homer. It was his fourth round-tripper of the campaign. After yet another error, allowing Nick Iezzi to reach base, Reagan Smith left the yard with a towering drive that curled around the left-field foul pole to make it 8-1. Finally, Baird singled with two outs and stole both second and third base. A strikeout by Jones that ended with him reaching on a wild pitch also allowed Baird to cross the dish for the ninth Milligan run, putting them up 9-1.

Milligan concluded their scoring in the bottom of the fourth, as Melton walked and Quintero reached on a fielding error to put the first two men aboard. Heidle then singled to right-center field, bringing Melton home to make it 10-1. Iezzi ended up doubling down the right-field line to score Quintero for a 11-1 lead, and Smith came up and delivered a sac fly to left to plate Miller Spence and make it 12-1.

In the top of the seventh a RBI single by Union Commonwealth made it 12-2, but that is where the score would stay, as the Buffaloes turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the contest in seven frames by way of the run rule.

It was the Bulldogs who notched the first run of the game in the second tilt, as two walks and a RBI single put UCU up 1-0 early on.

The Buffaloes responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half, as Baird led off with a hit-by-pitch and was followed by back-to-back singles by Jones and Kalehuawehe, the latter of which was a run-scoring knock to plate Baird. With the tie score, Melton was plunked to load the sacks, which allowed Landon Lutterman to deliver a sac fly to center to score Jones. It was a 2-1 MU lead after one.

In the bottom of the second, the Buffs added on a five spot. With Nick Moss aboard, Jones reached on a throwing error by the UCU shortstop, putting Jones aboard at second and sending Moss across the plate to make it 3-1. After Jones stole third, Kalehuawehe ripped a single into right-center field to make it 4-1. A throwing error by the Bulldogs' shortstop allowed the fifth MU run to score, as Spence raced home on the Melton grounder. Lutterman would then double to right field and Iezzi was productive with a RBI groundout to second base, pushing the score to 6-1. The final run came on a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield from Smith to score Lutterman and give the Buffs a 7-1 lead.

Milligan grabbed three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, when Lutterman led off the frame with a solo home run to right-center field, his second homer of the year. With both Cole Putnal and Moss on base, Baird then laced a two-run double into the left-center gap to extend the advantage to 10-1.

A single run from UCU in the top of the sixth came on a leadoff solo homer, but the Buffaloes responded with a run of their own in the bottom half on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Keith Scoggins that scored Smith and made the score 11-2, which would be the final after a three-up-three-down top of the seventh.

Jones led the way with four hits in six at-bats on the afternoon. He also scored a trio of runs and had a walk to his name. Baird, Iezzi and Smith all went 3-for-7, as they combined to drive in eight runs across the 14 innings. Heidle (HR, 5 RBI), Kalehuawehe (2 RBI) and Lutterman (HR, 2 RBI) all supplied two hits on the day, and Melton (RBI) and Josh Lail each had a hit apiece.

The pitching in game one was taken care of by Jonah Ward (5 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 K) and Jack McLaury (2 IP, ER, 3 H), as they held the Bulldogs to just two runs combined. Ward's season record moved to 4-1 with the victory.

A seven-inning complete game was twirled by Canyon Geren in the latter tilt, as he struck out 10 batters and walked three. He allowed two runs on three hits in the win to move to 5-0 on the campaign.

On Tuesday, the Buffaloes (28-6, 14-4 AAC) will head out to University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) with designs on taking the season series against the No. 6-ranked squad in the nation after splitting the doubleheader on Anglin Field with them earlier this season. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. in Williamsburg on Tuesday, March 31.