NASHVILLE - Lipscomb Baseball dropped their series opener with Xavier Friday afternoon 9-5 at Ken Dugan Field. The loss improved the Musketeer's record to 2-3, while the Bisons fell back to 1-4 on the season. 

Xavier took an early two-run lead in the opening at-bats of the game. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Hayden Christiansen for Xavier singled to the right-center field to bring both runners home to give the Musketeers a 2-0 lead after a half inning. 

Xavier added three more runs in the third, starting with a two-run homer from Tyler DeMartino to go up 4-0. Then, Christiansen earned his second single of the afternoon on a rope up the middle to bring another run across to go up 5-0 in the fourth.  

Alex Vergara brought in the Bisons' first run of the day to break the silence on a ground out to second to plate Will Lee in the third. However, Xavier quickly got that run back similarly, but on a ground out to shortstop to score the runner at third in the fourth.

Trace Willhoite provided some offense for the Bisons with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth, homers on the first pitch he saw. Xavier answered again on a double to left center by Christiansen, his third hit of the afternoon to go up 7-2. 

Vergara hit his team-leading third home run of the season well over the left field wall to send around Adam Fallon, who singled to center in the previous at-bat. The blast made it 7-4 Musketeers, with the Bisons still having work to do. 

The ball clubs traded runs in the sixth as Xavier hit their second home run of the day in the top of the sixth, a solo shot to left field to add one more run to their lead, and then back-to-back deep fly outs send around Mason Lundgrin who double to right center, for his third hit against the Musketeers. 

Xavier plated their final run on another solo jack to left field to push their lead up to four runs at 9-5 in the top of the ninth. With two outs, the Bisons put two on in their final chances but weren't able to come up with anything, resulting in a 9-5 final score in game one of the series. 

POSTGAME NOTES

• Xavier continued their recent stretch of success over Lipscomb, winning its fifth straight meeting. Lipscomb still leads the overall series 8-5. 
• Lundgrin led the Bisons with four hits, while Fallon and Vergara had two-hit outings. 
• The Bisons were narrowly outhit 12-11, with each team recording an error. 
• Starter Alex Brewer (0-1) took the loss for the Bisons on the hill, while Xavier's starting pitcher, Luke Hoskins (1-1), earned the win. 

UP NEXT
Game two of the series will be on Saturday, Feb. 24, with a 2 p.m. CT first pitch at Ken Dugan Field. For more information on Bisons Baseball, check lipscombsports.com or follow the team's social media accounts (@lipscombbaseball on IG and @BisonBaseball on X).