KINGSPORT, TN (May 2, 2007) --- The Milligan College baseball team opened the 2007 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Baseball Championship with an 8-2 loss rival King College in their first-round contest on Wednesday afternoon. The first-round game was played in Kingsport, Tenn. at Hunter Wright Stadium. With the results, Milligan moves to 24-24 on the season.

The Buffs, the No. 3 seed, will now play No. 7 seed Bluefield (Va.) College Thursday morning in a loser’s bracket game at King College in Bristol. Their game is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. The winner will advance to play the loser between UVA-Wise and Bryan at 4 p.m. at Hunter Wright Stadium.

The Buffs jumped in front when Garrett Reed (Gray, Tenn.) hit a sacrifice fly to left field which allowed Ben Huff (Bristol, Tenn.) to score in the second inning. Huff led the inning off with a single and advanced when Ricky Morgan (Elizabethton, Tenn.) reached on a King fielding error.

The Tornado tied the contest in the bottom of the third with a RBI single from Joe Craven to drive in Tyler Halstead. King added a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth inning to extend their lead.

Milligan cut into the lead when Morgan hit a RBI single to left field to allow Brandon Murphy (Johnson City, Tenn.) to make the score 4-2 half way through the sixth inning.

King went on to add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with an additional run in both the seventh and eighth innings to make the final score 8-2.

Nathan Fritz (Kingsport, Tenn.) suffered the loss after he threw six complete innings and allowed six runs, three earned, on 11 hits. He also struck out three Tornado batters.

At the plate, Murphy, Morgan, Cody Cannon (Elizabethton, Tenn.) and Justin Sauceman (Alcoa, Tenn.) each went 2-for-4 for the Buffs.

King’s Jace Smith tossed a complete game victory. Smith scattered 11 hits and two hits while he struck out nine.

Joe Craven was a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs while Drew Trujillo and Craig Cant each added 2-for-4 performances.