No. 2 Baseball Falls in Extra Innings to Milligan
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Milligan (TN) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 2 |
|
Tennessee Wesleyan | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 18 | 1 |
ATHENS, Tenn.- A high-scoring, extra-inning affair did not go the baseball team's way as they fell in an eleven-inning game on Friday. The second-ranked Bulldogs fell 17-15 to the Milligan University Buffaloes.
The first game of the three-game Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series saw the Buffaloes take the first lead. Corbin Shaw and Nick Collins cut into the deficit in the bottom of the second inning, hitting solo home runs to make the score 3-2.
Each team scored a run in the third inning. Hagen Escoto and Chris Catalano hit back-to-back singles, with Escoto moving to third on the latter. A sacrifice fly by Josh Shelly made the score 4-3 as Escoto scored to keep TWU within one run of the lead. The lead changed in the fourth inning.
With two outs in the inning, the Bulldogs scored four runs on four consecutive hits. Kruise Newman had the first hit, a single, and was followed by an Escoto double that brought him in. Catalano's double scored Escoto while a home run by Shelly emptied Catalano off the bases. The lead did not last long though as Milligan tied the game in the fifth inning. Shaw and Devin Dixon pushed the team back ahead in the bottom of the fifth with solo bombs, moving the score to 9-7. The sixth inning saw the game become tied again at 9-9.
In the eighth inning, the Bulldogs broke the tie. Dixon was standing on second after a double and scored on a Catalano single. Stolen bases got Jonathan Bosque and Catalano into scoring positions and gave the team a two-run advantage as Bosque scored. Shelly hit his second home run of the game, moving the score to 13-9 as Catalano also was a run. Collins put the team up 15-9 when his double brought in Kolton Reynolds and Kurtis Reid both scored. Unfortunately, Milligan scored six runs in the top of the ninth and two runs in the eleventh inning to win the game.
Shelly led the team with five RBIs.
Tennessee Wesleyan (24-9, 13-6 AAC) finishes the AAC series with the Buffaloes on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.