LAKELAND, Fla. – Milligan University's baseball squad began their 2026 NAIA Opening Round appearance on Monday afternoon on the campus of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla. They took on the No. 3-seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to open the event. Following early-inning woes, the Buffs fell 6-4 despite a late rally, sending them to the losers' bracket.
The Buffaloes gave up the first run of the game in the top of the first, as they served as the home team as the higher seed. They did not allow a hit, but a leadoff walk and two costly errors led to an unearned run being tallied by UBC.
Following a scoreless bottom of the first, in which
Gaven Jones recorded a single but was retired via double play on the next batter, the Thunderbirds added four additional unearned tallies with a throwing error on a steal attempt with runners going to second and third, a pair of two-out RBI singles and a baserunning play with runners at the corners to manufacture the final run of the frame. They led Milligan 5-0 at that juncture.
Following a hitless bottom of the second UBC scored another run in the third. A litany of walks—four total in the frame—led to a 6-0 deficit for Milligan with the potential for six more innings to be played.
The two sides failed to score over the next five half-innings before Milligan finally got off the schneid with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Following a Jones single and stolen base,
Cade Kalehuawehe ripped a RBI single to right field to make it 6-1. Then, back-to-back singles by
Brody Melton and
Nick Iezzi loaded the bases for
Wyatt Heidle. He hit a deep fly ball to left field which was caught just shy of the warning track for a sacrifice fly to score the courtesy runner
Andrew Beavers. It was a 6-2 game after six innings.
In the top of the seventh, UBC looked to have extended their lead with a two-out single through the left side of the infield, but
Nick Moss gunned down the runner trying to score from second to keep it at a four-run deficit.
The Buffs had an opportunity in the bottom of the seventh, getting runners to second and third with just one out, but a popout and a strikeout ended the frame with the same 6-2 score.
It continued to be a 6-2 game all the way until the bottom of the ninth. The Buffaloes recorded an out before
Reagan Smith singled to put a runner on with one out. After the second out was recorded,
Braxton Baird walked and Jones singled to load the bags. Kalehuawehe then came through again with a two-RBI single to make it a 6-4 game with runners at the corners and two out. The Thunderbirds would finally record the final out at that point, ending the game in their favor, 6-4.
Offensively, the Buffaloes outhit UBC 12-8, but eight walks by MU pitching and four errors on defense tipped the scale. Jones led the way with a four-hit day to extend his single-season record mark to 87 hits this campaign. He doubled in one of those at-bats, stole a base and scored a run on the day. Kalehuawehe (2-for-5, 3 RBI) and Iezzi (2-for-4) also had multi-hit efforts. Melton, Heidle, Smith and Moss all had one hit, with Heidle providing the other RBI for the squad on his sac fly.
It was a difficult start for
Canyon Geren (3 IP, 2 H, 6 R (1 ER), 2 K, 8 BB), though mostly due to command. He was not hit particularly hard, but he and his defense gifted British Columbia a 6-0 lead through the first three innings with those eight walks and three costly defensive miscues. Much credit goes to
Cole Wessel (2.1 IP, 3 H, K) and
Cainan Meyers (3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 K), who righted the ship to give the Buffs' offense a chance to chip their way back into the game.
The season is not over for the Buffaloes (40-14, 22-5 AAC), but they will be facing elimination in a contest on Tuesday that has been moved up to 11 a.m. due to impending weather against the loser of the No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.) and No. 4 Faulkner (Ala.) contest on Monday evening.
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