MILLIGAN, Tenn. — Milligan University's No. 21-ranked baseball team entered Thursday night's matchup with the No. 4-ranked Johnson University (Tenn.) Royals on Anglin Field with a chance to put themselves in the driver's seat in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) standings. The Buffs did exactly that, shutting down the Royals 5-0 to give them the leg up going into Friday's doubleheader.
The two starting arms were having their way with the opposing lineups through the game's first three-and-a-half innings. However, the Buffaloes finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth after
Brody Melton singled and stole both second and third base.
Nick Iezzi then grounded a base hit through the middle to make it 1-0 in the Buffs' favor.Â
Following a scoreless top of the fifth, Milligan added on to their lead.
Miller Spence delivered a one-out infield single, before
Braxton Baird left the yard with a golf shot on a breaking ball out to right field. The two-run bomb gave MU a 3-0 lead.
As the Buffaloes continued to suffocate the JU offense, they also modestly added to their edge. In the bottom of the sixth, Melton launched a first-pitch hanging slider over the left-field wall to left field to put Milligan up 4-0 after six.
After not scoring in the seventh, the Buffs added one more tally in the eighth, as another solo homer made it 5-0. That one came off the bat of
Luis Quintero.
The Buffs allowed only three hits all game long to the Royals, as they completed the 5-0 victory, setting them up to need just one win on Friday to take the AAC regular-season title.
Milligan's offense scored five runs on nine hits in the contest, with three of those being home runs. Melton led the way, going 3-for-4 with a round tripper and a RBI while scoring twice. Spence (2-for-2, R) also had multiple hits. Baird and Quintero had a homer each, while the two remaining hits came from Iezzi and
Reagan Smith.
Canyon Geren's masterful outing, which included seven innings of scoreless work, helped seal the deal for the Buffs. He struck out 10 hitters, tying his season-high mark. Additionally, he only walked one batter all game en route to the win and his newly-minted 8-1 record.
Sai Vickers pitched the final two innings, giving up one hit and one walk while punching out a pair of hitters to end things.
Friday now holds a massive potential prize for the Buffs (37-10, 21-4 AAC), who are on the brink of clinching their first AAC regular-season championship since the inaugural AAC season in 2001. With one win, they will achieve that feat and enter the AAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. First pitch on Friday is set for 1 p.m.
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