Pikeville, KY - The Bears found themselves in an extra innings shootout with Milligan on Tuesday afternoon, tying the game with a trio of clutch runs in the ninth, but would fall as Milligan scored the winning run in the tenth.
The duo of
Ty Yates and
Grayson Harris split time on the mound for the Bears, with Harris relieving in the sixth and finishing the game. Yates gave up four runs (4E) on five hits, walking four and recording a strikeout. Harris gave up a single run and was hit
four times, totaling two strikeouts.
Offensively the Bears had six with a hit, including
Tyler Freas who knocked the only extra-base hit for the Bears all game. Freas' lead-off triple in the first inning was followed by
Eduardo Bello's single and scored Freas. Bello boosted his OBP in the contest, reaching three times, recording an RBI on each trip.
Tyler Maynard and
Noah Helton also tagged hits, while
Anthony Houk managed a single and a run scored.
After the run scored in the first, the Bears were stifled at the plate until the top of the fourth inning with Maynard singled to right. Milligan had tied the game up in the third on a sac bunt and RBI single but the game was quiet offensively.
A big fifth inning put the Buffaloes up 4-1 thanks to a three-run homer and the Bears would trail until the top of the ninth. A lead-off walk from Houk put a runner on and was followed by a consecutive walk by
Demarco Miller.
Jared Kirkman stepped up big time, scorching a single through the infield which the runners before
Mikey Swails hit a sacrifice fly to score Kirkman on the next at-bat. Bello singled up the middle, tying the game as Kirkman and Miller crossed. Harris delivered a three-up, three-down inning in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras.
The Bears couldn't connect in the top of the 10
th, but the Buffaloes managed a two out single, setting up a walk-off opportunity. The runner stole second and was scored on the next at-bat.
Bears baseball is back in Pikeville this weekend for a three game MSC series with UT-Southern. Game one is set for Friday, March 11
th at 2:00 PM.