NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb University baseball team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take down the University of North Alabama, 6-5, in the second game of a three-game series, Saturday afternoon from Ken Dugan Field at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium.
Final Score: Lipscomb 6, North Alabama 5
Location: Ken Dugan Field at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium
Records: Lipscomb (10-15, 4-4), North Alabama (8-16, 5-3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
North Alabama used single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings to take a 3-0 lead. Ryker Billingsley's RBI single in the third made it 1-0, while RJ Sherwood's lead off homer in the fifth extended the lead.
In the sixth, Nash Rippen made it a 3-0 score for UNA as he scored on a wild pitch.
However, in the bottom half of the sixth, after a lead off single by
Jake Berg, the Lions finally went to the bullpen for the first time in the series, and that sparked the bats for the Bisons. After a single by
Parks Bouck and a walk by
David Coppedge to load the bases,
Kai Holm and
Damion Kenealy Jr. posted back-to-back RBI knocks to make it a 3-2 score.
Jacob Tobias used a productive out with a groundout to short to make it all even at three runs apiece through six innings.
In the seventh, North Alabama loaded the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch. Rippen's second hit in as many innings drove in two runs to reclaim the lead, 5-3.
Lipscomb came back strong in the bottom of the seventh, with three straight hits, all coming with two outs. Bouck and Coppedge went back-to-back on doubles, and after Coppedge drove in Bouck, he scored on a Holm base hit to tie the game at five runs each.
In the eighth,
Cameron Guise pitched a shutdown inning, striking out the side to get the bats right back up there.
Ryan Austin's double started the rally for the Bisons, and after a strikeout for the second out of the inning,
Brady Miller laced a double to right field to reclaim the lead.
In the ninth, Guise was back on the rubber, and he worked around a leadoff walk to get the Bisons back in the win column.
KEY STATISTICS
Ryan Austin's second double of the year was a critical one, as his off the bench in the eighth gave the Bisons the lead for good.
Kai Holm and
Damion Kenealy Jr. each posted two-hit days, with Holm driving in two runs.
Cameron Guise (1-1), finished the game up for the Bisons, tossing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Lions and Bisons will play a rubber match on Sunday afternoon, starting at noon from Dugan Field.
