A long, wet weekend saw cancellations for the Lipscomb baseball team on Friday and Saturday, but the rain was followed by clearer skies and a doubleheader against Western Michigan on Sunday at Ken Dugan Field.
“There’s gonna be wind, there’s gonna be sun, there’s gonna be [a] rain delay,” Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand said. “There’s gonna be some factor in every game, and if we’re not ready to adjust to that, we’re gonna find ourselves behind the eight-ball in a lot of games.”
Both games were high-scoring, but the first game ended in Western Michigan’s favor with a final tally of 17-5. The Bisons were down 12-0 going into the fourth inning.
“You just don’t say anything,” Forehand said. “We had a conversation last week, and we feel like our offense is good enough that we can come back from any deficit.”
The Bisons were able to put some runs on the board in the later innings, but it would be too little, too late. This would be the Broncos’ first win of the season, making their record 1-5.
“You might think you come out in that game, and you give up 15 runs, that we weren’t ready to play,” Forehand said. “We were ready to play. They just played really well.”
Cancellations and a hefty defeat in the first game didn’t shake the confidence the Lipscomb coaching staff had in its initial plans for these games.
“We had it kind of scripted on what we were gonna do for both of these games,” Forehand said. “Right now, early in the season, we’re really trying to get as many guys in the game as we can.”
Their trust paid off, and in the afternoon game the Bisons were able to turn things around on the Broncos and take the 13-5 victory.
“The wind’s blowing in our favor, too,” Forehand said. “We had the same opportunity to participate in an offensive day.”
Lipscomb started the second game strong with a 5-0 lead after the first inning. Three of those runs came courtesy of a home run by left fielder Ty Jones, bringing in two runners on base.
The Broncos would bring the score back within one run in the top of the fourth inning. Their push was led by shortstop Drew Devine’s stealing home after a wild pitch.
But the Bisons extended their lead again to 8-4 by the time the fourth inning concluded.
Each side would claim a home run in the sixth inning, but that would be the final run for the Broncos. Lipscomb went on to bring in another four runs in the eighth.
The game was called early at the end of the eighth inning due to the travel needs of the Western Michigan side.
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