KINGSPORT, Tenn.— One of the winningest Montreat baseball seasons in over a decade concluded on Saturday at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament in Kingsport, Tenn. The Cavaliers saw their conference tournament run come to an end against the Milligan University Buffaloes on a rainy weekend at Hunter Wright Stadium, falling 14-2. As the season ended, Montreat wrapped up the year with a 33-26 (13-17 AAC) record.
 
Milligan (36-20) handed itself a comfortable lead early thanks to a five-run bottom half of the first inning. The Buffaloes intermixed five hits with two Cavalier errors to push across a flurry of runs and lead 5-0 after one.
 
After a quiet second inning by both teams, the Cavs put their first run on the board in the top of the third. Rafael Padilla smoked his team-leading 15^th homer of the season by drilling a solo shot to left field. Montreat's 400^th run scored on the season was their first of the ballgame, and it helped chip the Cavalier deficit down to 5-1.
 
Unfortunately for Montreat, the Buffaloes had some offense in store for the third inning as well. Following a double and another Cavalier error, Milligan cashed in on a two-RBI single up the middle, pushing their edge to 7-1 through three frames.
 
The Cavaliers found their way onto the basepaths in both the fourth and fifth frames but ultimately couldn't find a way to capitalize. Meanwhile, Milligan continued to hit well with runners on, scoring five more runs in the fifth to lead 12-1. Through five innings, the Buffaloes were 7-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
 
Milligan's ninth hit in 19 tries with a runner on base produced another tally in the seventh. A two-out double down the right field line had the Buffaloes in front of Montreat by 12 runs. Then, in the eighth, Milligan struck for another run on a single to left field to lead 14-1 entering the final inning of play. The Buffaloes ended the day 12-for-24 at the plate with runners on base.
 
Chase Bruno and Will Cheek ripped doubles in the top of the ninth to keep the Cavs going, but Milligan held Montreat from there, finishing off the Cavaliers' season with a 14-2 AAC Tournament defeat.
 
Padilla (2-4) ended as the only Montreat batter with multiple hits. Norman Kelly, Bruno, OJ Borroto and Cheek all registered one base knock on the afternoon. Meanwhile, Caden Wright was the lone Cavalier pitcher to throw record a scoreless outing.
 
The Montreat baseball team's 33 wins in 2022 are the program's most in a single season since it won 35 games in 2008. Meanwhile, the 13 AAC wins are the most since the program won 13 conference games in 2009.