Box Score MOBILE, AL – Lipscomb Softball ended the Mardi Gras Tournament hosted by South Alabama by facing Notre Dame in Mobile, AL. Entering the matchup, the Bisons were 3-1 in the tournament, while the Fighting Irish were 2-2. Due to inclement weather, the matchup was moved up an hour from 10 AM to 9AM and the Fighting Irish emerged victorious.
NOTRE DAME 15, LIPSCOMB 4
The Bisons challenged Notre Dame by keeping the playing field level for as long as they could. The Fighting Irish recorded a double and loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first, but the Bisons stayed strong, forcing Notre Dame to leave all three runners on base on a flyout to left field. Offensively, the Bisons could not record a hit and both teams remained scoreless into the second.
Despite having runners on first and third in the top of the second, the Fighting Irish's two hits resulted in no scores. Lipscomb recorded their first hit on
Mallory Ogle's at-bat with a single through the right side, but the Bisons also entered the third with nothing on the board.
Notre Dame started to hit their stride in the third inning, recording two hits and forcing two errors for three runs with no outs. The Fighting Irish forced another error and scored on a sac fly to clear the bases before recording a single-run homer. The Bisons made two quick outs after going down 4-0 and stepping back up to the plate. Lipscomb led off the inning by recording back-to-back hits to put runners on first and second but couldn't score before the inning closed.
The Fighting Irish were in attack mode entering the top of the fourth, scoring on a throwing error and loading the bases with no outs. Lipscomb was forced to relieve
Ryleigh Sapp with
Courtney Sauer, but Notre Dame managed to close the inning with seven runs on seven hits for an 11-0 lead.
Lipscomb held Notre Dame to one hit in the top of the fifth and entered the bottom of the inning looking to keep the game going. The Bisons were walked three times to load the bases with no outs, and on a fielder's choice,
Josey Polk reached first and pushed
Alyssa Hastings home from third, but she was tagged out before reaching the base. After the next batter struck out,
Tori Womack stepped up and recorded a grand slam to left field. Womack's homer is the fifth of her career and first of her season. J.Polk,
Brenna Sherman, and
Elle Smith all scored, attributing to Womack's 4 RBI.
Neither team recorded a hit in the sixth inning, extending the game to a seventh. Notre Dame forced two errors and scored four runs on three hits and two walks for a 15-4 lead. Lipscomb couldn't reach base before the end of the inning, solidifying the Fighting Irish's victory.
Tori Womack's grand slam helped her go 1-1 while Mal.Ogle went 2-3 on the day, both girls combining for four of the Bisons' five total hits.
UP NEXT
Lipscomb looks forward to hosting their first tournament this season in the Purple/Gold Challenge from Friday, 2/28 to Sunday, 3/2. The Bisons' first game will be against Northern Iowa at 1:30 PM on Friday.
