NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb University Baseball team secured an early lead by scoring three runs in the first inning thanks to four walks and three hit-by-pitches to defeat Bellarmine University 5-4, Thursday night inside Ken Dugan Field at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium. This victory improves the Bisons to 8-1 on the season in ASUN Gold Division series openers
Final Score: Lipscomb 5, Bellarmine 4
Location: Nashville, Tennessee (Ken Dugan Field at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium)
Records: Lipscomb (22-23, 15-10), Bellarmine (19-28, 11-14)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lipscomb opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, taking advantage of two hit-by-pitches and a walk to load the bases.
Brady Miller extended his on-base streak to 20 games with a hit-by-pitch to start the rally.
Jordan Thomas drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the first run.
Kai Holm then reached on a fielder's choice, allowing
Hutson Miles to score.
Cam Pruitt scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 3-0 after the first inning.
In the third, Lipscomb's two-out magic continued to shine.
Danny Ramirez tripled down the right field line and scored on
Damion Kenealy Jr.'s single up the middle, increasing the Bisons' lead to 4-0. Entering the weekend, the Bisons were hitting .294 with two outs and .310 with runners in scoring position.
Lipscomb added another run in the fourth when
Alejandro Ludeiro singled and later scored on
Cam Pruitt's single, which was aided by an error, making it 5-0.
Bellarmine responded in the fifth with three runs, highlighted by Landon Akers' two-RBI single, cutting the deficit to 5–3.
Lipscomb held off a late surge from Bellarmine to secure the victory, with the eighth and ninth innings marking the game's most pivotal moments. Bellarmine trimmed the deficit to one run when Luca Hoerger's single to center field brought home Luke Scales, who had advanced to second on a groundout. However, with
Kaleb Kantola coming in to preserve the lead with two outs in the eighth, he got Sawyer Pace to roll a ground ball to first to get out of the inning.
Lipscomb's defense was critical in maintaining the advantage, executing a key double play that was overturned in the ninth to quell an early Knights threat. After a lead-off walk to Landon Akers, AJ Swader flew out to medium depth in center field by
Hutson Miles. Akers attempted to tag to get into scoring position, and he was ruled safe. However, the call was overturned on replay, and a Jake Bell strikeout sealed Kantola's seventh save of the year.
HERD NOTES
Lipscomb is now 8-1 in series openers in Gold Division Play.
The Bisons improved to 6-0 in one-run games this season.
With his seventh save,
Kaleb Kantola moves up to fourth all-time in Lipscomb's Division I era for saves in a season. Denton Norman (2017) and Seth Kuwik (2005) each also had seven.
Lipscomb is now 15-10 in the Gold Division and is currently a half-game behind North Alabama for the top spot in the division. If there's a tie between UNA and Lipscomb at the end of the regular season, the Bisons will have the tiebreak after defeating the Lions in four of the six matchups.
KEY STATISTICS
Alexander Llinas (5-3) pitched five innings and allowed three runs with two strikeouts to earn the win.
Cam Pruitt,
Jordan Thomas,
Kai Holm and
Damion Kenealy Jr. all had an RBI for the Bisons.
UP NEXT
Game two of the series will happen on Friday night at 6 p.m.
