A late rally in the second half of Friday’s Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament game by the Bryan College Lions was just shy of turning into a comeback performance as the Milligan College Buffs (Tenn.) produced six runs through four innings and held on for a 6-5 victory at Brickyard Park. The Buffs went on to lose to AAC regular season and now tournament champion, Reinhardt University (Ga.) 7-1, but the win over the No. 2 seed Lions earned Milligan an automatic bid to the NAIA Regionals with the title of AAC Tournament runner-up.
It only took one swing to give Milligan an early 1-0 edge over Bryan with a solo shot over the right field fence in the bottom of the first.
The Lions were unable to answer through three innings, before the Buffs continued to create even more space with four of their 10 hits in the outing coming in the bottom of the third that gave way to a 4-0 lead.
Two singles plated three from Milligan for the comfortable advantage heading into the fifth.
Ashley Brown delivered a single in the top of the fourth that was followed by a misplayed ball, resulting in Mariam Wood traveling home for Bryan’s first score of the game. After reaching base on a fielder’s choice and capitalizing on Milligan’s error, Lion’s catcher Becca Zimmerman found herself in scoring position at third with Brown holding down second. Leslie Nunnelly connected for single to shallow right-center, which plated Zimmerman and Brown to cut the margin to one, 4-3.
Milligan was not rattled as they took advantage of two wild throws by Bryan in the bottom of the fourth frame to advance runners. The dagger came on a two-run double to deep center by the Buffs to establish a 6-3 lead that would prove good enough for the win.
In the top of the sixth, Wood led off the Lions with a single to left. Courtney Bonaiuto entered as a courtesy runner for Wood and made her way to second after a sacrifice bunt laid down by Zimmerman. Kaleigh Riley swatted a single to center that plated Bonaiuto to cut the deficit to two, 6-4.
Bryan applied pressure in the top of the seventh as Kim Borowski singled to left and Lacye Walker followed with a single to center with only one out. A fly out by the Lions picked up a second out rather quickly, but Zimmerman collected her one hit of the game in a crucial moment to score Borowski and make it a one-run game. Unfortunately, Bryan couldn’t produce another hit as Milligan took a final 6-5 decision.
Sarah Hundley picked up the loss and moved her record to 10-5 this season after tossing 2.2 innings against Milligan and surrendering seven hits and four runs but registering an impressive six strikeouts. Sydney West entered to relieve Hundley for the duration of the third inning, but in her time she allowed three hits and two runs (one earned). Kaitie Sims closed out the final 2.2 innings with a clean slate, notching two walks and two strikeouts.
Wood led the Lions in the hits column, finishing 3-for-4 with one run scored. The only other Bryan members to tally a multi-hit performance were Borowski and Nunnelly. Nunnelly ended with a team-high two RBIs, while Riley and Zimmerman both added one RBI apiece.
The efforts of Riley and Sims earned them All-Tournament Team honors. Riley was 4-for-10 during the tournament with one run scored, two RBIs, and one homerun. Sims hurled 15.2 innings and surrendered 13 hits and six runs. In four appearances, she compiled 10 strikeouts and concluded the week with a 1-1 record.
The Lady Lions finished with an overall record of 29-23.
As a team, Bryan batted .297 on the year, which was 4th best in the AAC. The Lions also ranked 3rd in earned run average (2.74) and 2nd in opponent batting average (.242).