Baseball team completes three-game AAC sweep over Milligan by winning both ends of doubleheader, plays at Southern Poly on Sunday

WALESKA, Ga. -- On Saturday, the Reinhardt University baseball team completed a three-game Appalachian Athletic Conference sweep over the visiting Milligan College Buffaloes by winning both ends of a doubleheader at Ken White Baseball Field. Reinhardt won the first contest 7-3 and the second 8-5 to move past Milligan and into third place in the AAC standings.

 

In the opener, the Eagles scored once in the first inning but the Buffaloes tied the game in the third. Reinhardt took control with a run in the bottom of the third inning, two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth. Milligan concluded the scoring with a two-run seventh inning.

The Eagles outhit their visitors 10-7 and each squad was guilty of an error. The Buffaloes left eight runners on base and Reinhardt seven.

Don DiPetta led the winners at the plate by going 3-for-3 with a double, walk, three runs scored and an RBI while Jay Huffman and Zach Kles each finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Michael Lonati and Josh Wilson collected a hit and two RBIs apiece.

On the mound for the Eagles, Ryan McDowell was the starter and winner, pitching six innings. He allowed five hits and two earned runs with a pair of strikeouts. Freshman Jeff Roberts threw one scoreless inning out of the bullpen.

In the first inning of game two, each team scored twice. Reinhardt also tallied a pair of runs in each of the second, fourth and sixth innings to establish an 8-2 lead before Milligan pushed three runs across in the seventh.

Each club ended with nine hits and an error. The Eagles stranded seven base runners and the Buffaloes six.

Offensively for Reinhardt, Brett Flick went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored while freshman Andy Pringle was 2-for-2 with two RBIs. DiPetta finished 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored while Wilson added a single and drove in two runs.

Ben Gonglach got the start for the Eagles and pitched into the second inning. Freshman Trent Sheffield tossed five innings for the win, giving up four hits and two runs with a strikeout before Ricky Johnson got the final two outs, the last one on a caught stealing at third base.

Reinhardt moves to 15-20-1 overall and 8-5-1 in the AAC while Milligan falls to 18-22 overall, including 8-7 in conference play. The Eagles host a non-conference game with the Young Harris College Mountain Lions on Tuesday at 6 p.m.