LAKELAND, Fla. – Another elimination contest stared the Milligan University baseball squad in the face on Wednesday afternoon in Lakeland, as the Buffs went up against the heralded top-seeded Fire of Southeastern University with both sides' seasons on the line. After a slow start for both offenses, the Fire broke out in the middle innings, sending the Buffs home by a final of 15-0 in a seven-inning, run-rule finish.
With neither side picking up a run over the course of the first three innings, the game looked to be following the plot of a pitchers' duel. That, however, was not the case. In the top of the fourth, the Fire knocked in a quartet of runs via a two-run double, a RBI groundout to the second baseman and a two-out run-scoring single. It was 4-0 after three-and-a-half.
Another scoreless frame for the Buffaloes preceded the top of the fifth, which equaled three more tallies for the hosting institution. A solo bomb to left added the first run, and a costly throwing error allowed runners from second and third to score on an errant backpick attempt. It was 7-0 at that point in the tilt.
Milligan's offense could not scratch a run across in the bottom of the fifth and allowed another tally in the top of the sixth, as back-to-back singles and a wild pitch put runners at second and third before a RBI groundout to second made it 8-0. Then, with two on and two out, a three-run home run to left by SEU put them up 11-0 after five-and-a-half innings had elapsed.
The Fire only continued their offensive showing in the top of the seventh, scoring another run on a single to left field to make it 12-0, before a two-RBI base hit to left-center field put the score at 14-0. A 15
th run would be scored by SEU on another single to left, as the Buffs trailed by 15 needing to score six times in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game alive.
Milligan was retired in the bottom of the seventh without scoring a run and fell 15-0 in seven frames.
The offense for the Buffs struggled and failed to take advantage of their few scoring opportunities. They achieved seven hits in the contest, with six of them being singles.
Braxton Baird (2-for-4, 2B) and
Wyatt Heidle (2-for-3) led the team with multi-hit performances, but singles from
Gaven Jones,
Luis Quintero and
Josh Lail rounded out the offensive production.
After three strong innings to start the contest,
Jonah Ward (4 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, K) gave up four runs in the fourth inning to pick up the loss, which pushed him to 8-3 for the campaign.
Sai Vickers (2 IP, 7 R (5 ER), 5 H, 3 K, BB) was the first reliever called upon, before
Cole Wessel (0.1 IP, 3 ER, H, K, BB) and
Cainan Meyers (0.2 IP, ER, 2 H, K, BB) rounded out the loss.
Though the Buffaloes' (41-15, 22-5 AAC) season ended in an unceremonious fashion, there were so many positives to look back upon from the season, including the squad's first national ranking since 2010. The Buffaloes had a program-record 41 wins on the year, tied a program single-game scoring record with 24 runs scored, and saw numerous individual single-season and career records fall on the way through this electrifying campaign.
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