TWC News
03.16.2010 - [Baseball]
Troy Graybill gets the win in the first game against Milligan College
Troy Graybill gets the win in the first game against Milligan College

After being rained out Saturday, Tennessee Wesleyan College split an Appalachian Athletic Conference doubleheader at Milligan College Sunday, winning game one 7-1 before dropping the second game, 8-4. The Bulldogs finished out the series with another loss to Milligan in the single game on Monday. Bulldogs overall record is now 17-7 and they are 4-2 in the AAC.

Troy Graybill went the distance in game one. The junior lefthander tossed a three-hitter with eight strikeouts and five walks over seven innings. Cody Gaskill, who hit three home runs in a win over Judson College Thursday, put the Bulldogs on the board in the first inning when he followed singles by Max Loveland and Johnny Smith with a home run. Wesleyan added two more runs in the second and scored single runs in the fifth and sixth. Loveland went 2-for-3 with a double; Smith 3-for-4 and Rafael Carlot 2-for-4 with a double in the Bulldogs' nine-hit attack.

In game two, TWC trailed 5-4 before Milligan struck for three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Justin Crowell took the loss, allowing eight runs on 12 hits with six strikeouts and no walks over five innings. Drew Housewright tossed one inning of scoreless relief. The Bulldogs were out-hit 12-8 and both teams committed two errors. Loveland was 4-for-4 with a double; Brad Pippa 1-for-4 with a double and Kurtis Bramlett 1-for-3 with a double.

In the final game of the series, the Bulldogs struck first driving in a run in the top of the first, but the Buffs of Milligan answered bringing across two runners in the bottom of the inning to stand atop of the visitors 2-1.   After four scoreless innings, Milligan scored one run in the bottom of the sixth. The Bulldogs answered that with two more runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game.  However, Milligan scored one more in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead 4-3. The Bulldogs unable to score in the 8th or 9th lost 4-3.   Matt McCracken pitched 6 innings, giving up 9 hits with 3 runs and 2 strikeouts. Freddy Lewis pitched the final two innings with 2 hits and one run. Lewis had 2 strikeouts.  Brad Pippa and Max Loveland each had 2 hits. David Lindsey, Ryan Santos, and Cody Gaskill each contributed one hit to the Bulldogs total of 7. 
The Bulldogs will play at home this weekend against Bryan College.  They will play a single game on Friday, March 19th at 2:00 pm and then a double header on Saturday with the first pitch at 12:00 pm.