LEXINGTON, Ky. - Lipscomb baseball dropped the first game of a three-game series with the Kentucky Wildcats (8-1) Friday afternoon. The contest was moved up three hours due to the forecast of heavy rain in the afternoon, but the weather still played a factor, as misty rain was constant throughout the ball game.

The Bisons opened the ball game with back-to-back base hits. A double steal got both runners in scoring position, and then Trace Willhoite brought the runner on third home on a sacrifice fly to put the Bisons up 1-0. 

Kentucky answered in the bottom half on a single to right field with two runners in scoring position. Then, a bunt single scored another for the Wildcats as they took a 2-1 lead. 

The Wildcats added two more in the third on three hits, one run coming on an RBI single to right field and the second on a sac bunt down third base line to extend their lead to three runs.  

Mason Lundgrin brought the Bisons within a run on a two-run blast to left field, scoring Alex Vergara, who walked in the opening at-bat of the frame. Later in the order, Noah Boughton brought in the tying run on a single up the middle to cap off a three-run frame for Lipscomb. 

Kentucky took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth on a double to right center to go up 5-4 and eventually for good because the Wildcats then added a run in the seventh, scoring from third on a wild pitch for a 6-4 advantage. Kentucky later added an insurance run in the eighth with a single that snuck past short up the middle to put Kentucky ahead by three runs. Lipscomb could not rally down three to fall 7-4 in game one of the series.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Lipscomb finished with four runs on six hits with five runners left on base. 
• Kentucky finished with seven runs on ten hits with 12 runners left on base. 
• The Bisons six hits came from six different batters. 
• Alex Brewer went down as the losing pitcher for the Bisons. The righty pitched for five and a third innings, giving up five runs and nine hits, all earned with five strikeouts. 
• Pooser and Nove were the two pitchers that earned decisions for the Wildcats, with Pooser earning the win, improving to 1-0, and Nove earning the save, his first of the year.  

UP NEXT
Game two of the series will get underway Saturday, March 2, with a 12 p.m. CT first pitch airing on SEC Network+. For more information on Bisons Baseball, check lipscombsports.com or follow the team's social media accounts (@lipscombbaseball on IG and @BisonBaseball on X).