JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Lipscomb baseball hit five home runs on their way to a 16-3 run-rule win over North Florida (16-15, 6-7 ASUN) to start the weekend in Jacksonville. Each of the nine batters in the Bisons lineup had hits, and the Bisons got another quality start from Alex Brewer in an all-around team effort victory for Coach Forehand and company. 

With the series-opening win over the Ospreys, the Bisons improved to 10-22, 6-7 in ASUN play, and will look to take the series Saturday afternoon in game two. 

Mason Lundgrin put the Bisons on the board first with a solo shot in the first inning, his fifth bomb of the season, putting Lipscomb in front early. 

Trace Willhoite started the Bisons' three-run third frame with a solo homer to left field, giving Lipscomb a 2-0 lead. 

Later in the order, Will Lee found the gap in right-center to bring home two more runs for the Bisons' third and fourth run in three innings. 

North Florida got three runs back in the bottom of the third on three hits and an error to decrease their deficit to one.

That one-run lead didn't last very long, as the Bisons scored four on three home runs in the fourth. The first bomb came from David Coppedge, who homered for the second straight outing.

Then, after Kyle Hethington reached on a single to left center, lead-off man Alex Vergara went yard, his 12th home run of the season, for the second and third runs of the frame.

Lundgrin later belted his second long ball of the afternoon to round out the electric fourth frame for the Bisons and stretch their lead to 8-3. 

The Bisons used some two-out magic in the top of the sixth to put three more runs on the board. Austin Kelly singled to keep the inning alive, followed by a walk and a hit-by-pitch, allowing Jacob Tobias to break the game open with a bases-loaded. Tobias delivered with a bases-clearing double, which gave Lipscomb an 11-3 lead. 

Lipscomb erupted again in the seventh for their fourth multi-run inning of the night and added five more runs for even more insurance. 

Willhoite brought in the first run on a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI single from Parks Bouck, a bases-clearing single from Tobias, and another RBI single from Coppedge, giving the Bisons their 16th run of the night. 

Chandler Giles got the three outs in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 16-3 run-rule win over North Florida, the Bisons' third run-rule win against a conference foe this season. 

POSTGAME NOTES

• Vergara and Lundgrin homered on back-to-back at-bats for the first time since Vergara and Caleb Ketchup did so against Clemson in the sixth inning in the Clemson Regional last June. 
• Everyone in the Bisons' lineup had a hit in the series opener.
• Lipscomb connected on five home runs for the second time this season. The first instance came against North Alabama on 3/30 in Florence. 
• Lundgrin's two-home run day was the sixth multi-home run outing for a Bison this season. 
• Brewer went for six or more innings for the fourth straight time in conference play. Brewer allowed just two earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in six innings of work. 
• Lipscomb's 16 runs is their second-highest run total of the season, a run back of the 17 they scored against Xavier earlier in the season. 
• Lundgrin ended the night with three hits, two RBI, and three runs scored. 
• Tobias finished with two hits, four RBI, and a walk. 

UP NEXT
Lipscomb will battle the Ospreys again on Saturday in the middle game of the three-game series on Saturday, April 13, with a 2 p.m. CT first pitch. For more information on Bisons Baseball, visit lipscombsports.com or follow the team's social media accounts (@lipscombbaseball on IG and @BisonBaseball on X).