DELAND, Fla. – The Lipscomb University baseball team rallied for a 6-0 deficit in the seventh inning with a six-run outburst, but an RBI single by Florida Gulf Coast University was enough for the Eagles to defeat the Bisons, 7-6, in the final game of the opening day of the 2025 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship, late Tuesday night from Melching Field at Conrad Park.
Final Score: Florida Gulf Coast 7, Lipscomb 5
Location: DeLand, Florida (Melching Field at Conrad Park)
Records: Lipscomb (25-29), Florida Gulf Coast (27-28)
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the Bisons in the second, they were able to load the bases after a single by
Kai Holm, a
Damion Kenealy Jr. fielder's choice and a free pass by
Keaton Mahan. However, Ryan Dempsey came back to strike out his final batter of the inning to keep it scoreless.
In the third, after a lead off single by Nathan Gagnon,
Jake Berg gunned him down trying to snag second base for his 20th caught stealing of the year.
Staying scoreless until the fifth inning, the Eagles took advantage of two walks and an error to score four times in the frame, capped by a two-run home run by Jaret Nelson.
FGCU added two more runs in the sixth after two RBI singles from Gagnon and Dempsey.
Meanwhile on the mound, Dempsey shut down all the opportunities Lipscomb had to score thanks to nine strikeouts, as the Bisons left eight runners on base in the first six innings.
However, things started to change when Florida Gulf Coast went into its bullpen in the bottom of the seventh. Preston Rogers faced four batters, and all of them reached. Following a
Collin Goda free pass,
Aaron Stelogeannis,
Brady Miller and
Parks Bouck each had singles on the play to make it a 6-2 score.
Following another call to the bullpen,
Kai Holm made it a 6-3 deficit with an RBI groundout.
Now with two outs, the Bisons went back to work. Kenealy laced a single through the right side to score Miller to make it a 6-4 game.
Following
Keaton Mahan reaching on an error to extend the inning,
Collin Goda made the defense pay with a two-run knock to left field to pull even 6-6 after trailing 6-0.
The tie did not last long, as Florida Gulf Coast used a leadoff walk in the eighth to score what would be the go-ahead run thanks to a RBI knock up the middle from Jake McKee.
Lipscomb tried to counter in the bottom half of the eighth with a leadoff free pass of their own from Miller, but he would be stranded at third base.
KEY STATISTICS
Damion Kenealy Jr. put together three hits on the night with an RBI and a run scored.
Brady MIller and
Parks Bouck each had two hits and an RBI in the loss.
UP NEXT
With Central Arkansas losing to Stetson 10-2 earlier on Tuesday, the two teams will meet for the seventh time this season in an elimination game on Wednesday.
Lipscomb won the season series over UCA, 4-2, including a series sweep over the Bears a little over a month ago.
First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CDT from DeLand, Florida, following the conclusion of the other elimination game between North Alabama and North Florida.
