MILLIGAN, Tenn. - The Bryan College Lions were swept by receiving-votes Milligan this weekend at Anglin Field, dropping all three games of the Appalachian Athletic Conference series and falling to 14–15 overall and 7–7 in conference play.
Game 1: Bryan- 6, Milligan- 7
Friday's opener was the one that will sting the longest. Bryan's bats came alive in the middle innings and the Lions looked like they had the game well in hand, only to watch it slip away in the final frames.
Milligan struck first, plating a run in the third and another in the fourth to go up 2–0. But Bryan answered emphatically in the fifth. Jack Reynolds scored on a wild pitch to get the Lions on the board, and then the offense really opened up. Jayron Morris singled to left to score Logan Stradley, and moments later Brodie Genter came through with a two-RBI single to center that scored both Morris and Cyrus Campos. Just like that, Bryan had turned a 2–0 deficit into a 4–2 lead. The Lions kept their foot on the gas in the sixth, with Morris coming up big again — a two-RBI single that scored Stradley and Reynolds and pushed the advantage to 6–2.
Four runs with three innings to play felt comfortable. It wasn't.
Milligan's Nick Iezzi launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6–4, and then in the seventh, Brody Melton crushed a two-run shot of his own to tie the game at six. Bryan's bullpen, which had inherited a lead, could not hold it. The Lions went quietly in the eighth and ninth, managing just one hit over those two frames, and Milligan walked it off in the bottom of the ninth when Landon Lutterman singled home the winning run. Final: 7–6.
Starter Ty Johnson gave Bryan a solid six innings, allowing four earned runs, but Ryan Ely surrendered three earned runs in two relief innings — including the tying home run to Melton — and the Lions never recovered. Morris finished the game 2-for-5 with three RBI and was one of the few Lions who showed up ready to compete all night.
Game 2: Bryan- 6, Milligan- 11
If Friday's loss was heartbreaking, Saturday morning's game was maddening. Bryan once again built a lead, once again let it get away, and this time Milligan made sure there was no drama — just a blowout finish.
Milligan scored twice in the first inning and added another unearned run in the fifth to go ahead 3–1. Bryan scratched back, and in the fourth inning the Lions strung together enough to take a 4–3 lead — their lone lead of the entire doubleheader. Cade Cook had a standout afternoon, going 4-for-4 with two doubles. Morgan Halliday added three hits. The Lions had life.
But Milligan answered in the bottom of the fifth with four runs, and the Bryan pitching staff simply couldn't stop the bleeding. Starter Tanner Everett labored through four-plus innings, allowing seven runs on eleven hits. When Bryce Liechty came on in relief, Milligan kept attacking. The Buffaloes put the game completely out of reach in the eighth inning when Braxton Baird connected on a grand slam, making it 11–6. Bryan went down quietly in the ninth and the sweep was now two-thirds complete.
Three errors on the afternoon gifted Milligan extra opportunities that the Buffaloes were more than happy to take advantage of.
Game 3: Bryan- 1, Milligan- 5
The nightcap gave Bryan its best chance for a consolation win, and for a few innings it genuinely looked possible. Then Jack McLaury happened.
The Milligan right-hander was on a different level Saturday afternoon. He went the full seven innings, surrendered just five hits, struck out three, and — perhaps most impressively — did not walk a single Bryan batter. There was no getting on base for free, no working counts, no rallies built on walks. McLaury forced the Lions to earn everything, and they simply couldn't.
Bryan's only run came in the fifth inning. Cade Cook doubled to open the frame, Jackson Balliew came on to run for him, and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly from Jack Reynolds. Stradley then grounded to second, but it was enough to score Balliew and make it a 2–1 game. That was as close as the Lions would get.
Milligan padded their lead with two more runs in the sixth on an RBI single from Nick Moss and a sacrifice fly from Baird, and Bryan's offense went silent the rest of the way. The Lions stranded four baserunners and couldn't muster a single hit in the final two innings against McLaury. Starting pitcher JD McCurry took the loss, falling to 2–3 on the season after allowing two earned runs in just 2.2 innings of work.
The Lions will be on the road on Tuesday as they take on UT Southern.
