KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The (RV) Milligan University baseball program took part in a strange midweek contest on Tuesday against the No. 5-ranked Johnson University Royals in Knoxville. The non-conference meetup looked lopsided on the scoreboard, as the hosts notched a 14-3 run-rule win on seven innings, with walks and hit-by-pitches haunting MU throughout. The Buffs ended up outhitting the Royals in the loss by a margin of 8-5.
Johnson totaled nine runs in the bottom of the second inning, as they were issued eight free passes via walks and HBPs in the frame. To make matters worse, the two hits in the inning were home runs, with one being a grand slam and the other resulting in two runs.
Milligan got a pair of runs back in the top of the third, as they loaded the bases with no outs after a single by Nick Moss, an error during Braxton Baird's AB and a walk to Gaven Jones. A double play grounder from Cade Kalehuawehe brought in the first run and a Brody Melton single scored Baird to make it 9-2.
A sacrifice fly, a balk and a passed ball allowed three more JU runs in the bottom of the third to make it 12-2. Three walks, a hit-by-pitch and just a single hit led to those tallies.
Later, a two-out HBP by MU pitching allowed a chance for a two-run blast to be hit by the following hitter to extend the Royals' lead to 14-2 after four full frames.
A leadoff triple by Jones in the top of the fifth, followed by a RBI groundout by Kalehuawehe made it 14-3, which is where the score would remain until the contest's conclusion after seven innings.
Eight Milligan hits were recorded, as Jones went 3-for-3 with a triple, a walk and a run scored. Moss also had multiple knocks, with a pair of singles on a 2-for-3 day while crossing the plate once. Baird, Melton and Landon Lutterman tallied the three remaining hits on the day.
It was a mighty struggle for Milligan pitchers in the loss. Cainan Meyers finished just 1.2 frames and allowed five earned runs, albeit with zero hits afforded. He walked four hitters and hit another. Justin Schnell followed him and gave up four runs on two hits (both homers), while walking a pair. Conner Hendrix also gave up three runs on just one hit and walked a trio of hitters in one inning. Brady Thomas (IP, 2 ER, H) and Kaleb Meredith (2 IP, H, 3 K) rounded things out on the bump.
The Buffs (31-8, 17-4 AAC) will look to get the bad taste of the loss out of their mouth, as they head to Bluefield University (Va.) this weekend with game one set for Friday, April 10 at 5 p.m. in Bluefield.
Â
