Milligan University

MILLIGAN, Tenn. — The No. 21-ranked Milligan University baseball team stared a massive achievement in the face on Friday afternoon on Anglin Field. After winning against the No. 4-ranked Johnson University (Tenn.) Royals on Thursday evening, the Buffaloes were tasked with winning one out of a remaining two contests against the Royals to clinch the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) regular-season championship, as well as the No. 1 seed for the AAC Tournament next week. They got the job done early, grabbing a 8-1 win against JU to win the series. The third game of the series went the way of the Royals by a final of 10-5, but the Buffaloes had already seized the series.

Game one began with scoreless first innings from both offenses. After holding off the Royals in the top of the second, Milligan grabbed a quartet of runs in the bottom of the second frame. Nick Iezzi doubled down the right-field line, before Wyatt Heidle singled into left to put runners at the corners with no outs. Luis Quintero then ripped a RBI single to open the scoring, and was followed by a Reagan Smith RBI hit up the middle to make it 2-0. A run-scoring fielder's choice from Miller Spence and a RBI single from Gaven Jones gave MU a 4-0 advantage after two.

Milligan would maintain that four-run lead until the bottom of the fifth, when they got a triple from Jones to left field to lead things off. It was his eighth triple of the season, meaning that he now holds the Milligan record for triples in a single season. He was immediately knocked in on a sacrifice fly by Cade Kalehuawehe to put the Buffs up 5-0.

With their 5-0 lead still in tact, Milligan added another in the bottom of the seventh. A Kalehuawehe single, followed by a walk for Brody Melton, led to a run-scoring single by Iezzi down the right-field line to give MU a 6-0 advantage.

Smith led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer to left, putting the Buffs up 7-0. Then, Spence delivered a bunt single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. He was then driven in on a Jones single up the middle, giving the Buffaloes their 8-0 lead.

A RBI single by Johnson with two outs in the top of the ninth put them on the board for the first time in 18 innings against Milligan, but that is all they would get in the eventual 8-1 loss.

With the pressing matter already taken care of, game two was a different story. The Buffs would score first without recording a hit, as Jones reached base bia a hit-by-pitch and then stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Then, Melton drove him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 after one. 

Finally, Johnson broke out of the doldrums they had found themselves in offensively. In the top of the third of the seven-inning tilt, the Royals put up five runs, as two RBI singles, a two-run single and a sacrifice fly pushed across the Johnson runs to give them a 5-1 edge after two-and-a-half innings.

The Royals would grab two more in the top of the fourth, as a run-scoring single and a wild pitch later on the frame with a runner at third gave JU a commanding lead, 7-1.

Countering with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of that frame, the Buffs notched a RBI double from Landon Lutterman to score Iezzi, as well as a Smith RBI single to score Lutterman. It was a 7-3 Milligan deficit at that point.

The four-run deficit was stretched to five again, momentarily, in the top of the fifth. A solo blast to right field made it 8-3. However, with Jones at third base and less than two outs in the bottom half, Milligan received a RBI groundout by Iezzi to score Jones. That run trimmed the visitors' lead back to four at 8-4.

In the sixth, a sac fly and a RBI single by Johnson created a 10-4 lead, while Smith sent a pitch out of the yard to make it 10-5 with just an inning remaining.

That is where the score would stay, as the Buffs were retired in order to end the game. They achieved their first AAC regular season title since 2001 with the triumphant result.

Overall, the Buffaloes tallied 23 hits. Seventeen of those came in game one. Jones (5-for-7, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 R, 3 SB) was the leader on the day for the offense. He scored three runs on the day, putting him at 66 for the season to set a new record for runs scored in a single season. Smith (5-for-7, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) was also stellar offensively, while Kalehuawehe, Iezzi and Heidle all added three hits. Spence delivered two, and Quintero and Lutterman had one apiece.

Jonah Ward had his most well-rounded outing of the season in a massive spot. He twirled six innings of five-hit ball with four strikeouts and only one walk allowed. He earned the win to move to 7-2 for the campaign and improved his ERA to 3.98 for the year. Cole Wessel snatched his second save of his freshman season, as he gave up one run on two hits with five strikeouts and two walks in three innings of work.

Jack McLaury had a tough start in game three, as he pitched 2.1 frames and gave up five earned runs on seven hits to take the loss. Devin Gutierrez then entered for one inning, giving up a run but no hits and three walks with a single strikeout. Cainan Meyers threw the next 1.2 innings and allowed two runs on two hits with a team-best two strikeouts in the loss. Justin Schnell afforded JU two runs on one hit and a walk in one inning. Lastly, Jake Brune tossed a three-up-three-down inning with one strikeout.

Now, Milligan (38-11, 22-5 AAC) has earned the ever elusive AAC regular season title, their second all-time. They will look forward to this year's AAC Tournament at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, where they will be seeded as the No. 1 team in the tournament with a chance to earn an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. The AAC gives their two automatic bids to the two teams that make it to the conference tournament championship game.