NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lipscomb Lady Bisons are finding ways to keep fans sitting on the edge of their seats.

Sunday afternoon Kamrie Rich blasted a walk-off home run to left field to lead off the seventh, her second round-tripper of the day.

It was the second straight game in the series where the Lady Bisons had to come back. Five of their seven hits were for extra bases.

“The bats came alive,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said. “It wasn’t that we had a ton of hits, but we had a decent number.

“We definitely made our hits count. We came out and were attacking better pitches. It was good to see a power surge.

Lipscomb is 11-10. Tennessee Tech is 10-9.

The Lady Bisons had opened a 3-0 lead thanks to home runs by Presley Leebrick to right field with one out in the first inning, and a two-RBI shot by Rich to left center in the second.

In the fourth Tennessee Tech scored a run. Lipscomb answered with a run in the bottom of the inning. Olivia Ward  drove a double down the left field line.  Katie Turner singled to left to bring Olivia Ward home.’

Tennessee Tech added a run in the fifth and three in the sixth for a 5-4 lead.

Hannah DeVault homered to left center in the sixth to tie the game at 5-5 setting the stage for Rich’s blast.

“It was kind of fun to see Presley get her first home run and for Kamrie to get her first and her second and her first walk-off,” Ryman said. “It was neat to see those things come to life for those girls.

“Hannah has been battling through some stuff all weekend. She has been figuring things out offensively. She means so much to our team in the middle of the lineup. I was really proud of her.”

Chloe Yeager started for the Lady Bisons. She threw 5.1 innings and gave up eight hits and five runs, two earned. She struck out two batters.

“Chloe started giving up some hard contact in the later innings,” Ryman said. “She had her pitches working early in the game.

“It was tricky to figure out when to make a change, but Chloe was tired.  She had given us everything she had. Even though it was the middle of an at bat we decided to make a change.”

Katie Turner, 4-1, took over in the circle and closed out the final 1.2 innings with one hit and one strikeout.

“Katie came in and got a key out for us,” Ryman said. “That was good experience for her. She Is used to being in a starting role, but we need her to be both a starter and a reliever on a pitching staff of four.

“This was a big step in the right direction for Katie from a relief standpoint. She came in and did a nice job.”

Alyssa Arden, 7-3, went the distance for Tennessee Tech. She allowed  seven hits and six runs, all earned. She struck out five.

“We have been fighting hard as a team to continue our growth,” Ryman said. “We are learning and moving forward together.

“Any time you get a come-from-behind win it shows a lot of grit and a lot of poise. We didn’t want to be down in either game, but it is a neat thing to see a team fight and fight and not give in.”

Around the bases

• The homers by Leebrick and Rich were the first of their collegiate careers. It was the first two homer game for Rich.
• Rich leads the team with four multiple-RBI games.
• Olivia Ward, with two hits, has five multiple-hit games.
• DeVault has reached base in the last 10 games, a team high.
• Leebrick has reached base in nine straight games.
• None of the three pitchers walked a batter

Up next

North Carolina from the ACC makes its first visit to Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium Wednesday at 4 p.m.