Lipscomb’s win streak finally came to an end at the hands of Samford at Dugan Field Sunday afternoon. The Bisons held on for as long as they could, but lost 7-3 when it was all said and done. Despite this being the Bison’s first loss of the year, they still won the three preliminary games in the Turface Classic.
Lipscomb 4, Evansville 1
The first game of the Turface Classic started off very slow thanks to great pitching from both teams. Evansville got on the board first with a solo home run to center on what would be Lipscomb freshman pitcher Logan Van Treeck’s only run given to the Aces in his six innings of play.
Senior infielder Haddon Adams evened the score in the fifth after Adams’s RBI single brought senior catcher Jarrett O’Leary home.
In the seventh inning, Van Treeck was relieved by junior right hander Wyatt Folsom who pitched two scoreless innings to preserve the Bisons’ lead. Folsom was aided by a home run by junior infielder Chris Bashlor to bring the final score to 4-1.
Lipscomb 10, Bradley 7
Next up was a winless Bradley squad that gave the Bisons a very good game. Lipscomb’s bats were hot early as they outscored Bradley 9-3 throughout the first five innings.
But, Bradley had very productive fifth and sixth innings. The Braves scored on a double that was followed up by three-run homer to make it a 9-6 ballgame.
After getting outplayed in the fifth and sixth innings, the Bisons only managed to score on an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to hold on to a 10-6 lead.
Freshman pitcher Gavin Grubbs came in to relieve in the seventh inning. Grubbs let up one hit and forced a double play on a fly ball to centerfield. After the momentum shifted back to the Bisons, sophomore closer Tyler Guilfoil closed out in the ninth to keep the win streak alive.
Lipscomb 4, Missouri State 0
Game three had the Bisons taking on Missouri State. Lipscomb took the lead in the first inning with a leadoff homer from Adams.
Junior pitcher Max Habegger shut down Missouri State’s batters pitching five innings with five strikeouts and only two hits allowed.
The Bisons added to their score from junior infielder Malik Williams’s RBI single in the third inning. Junior outfielder Maddux Houghton accounted for the final two runs of the game with a two-run home run to left field in the fifth inning.
Freshman pitcher Patrick Williams came in after Habegger was pulled after the fifth inning. Williams allowed one hit in three innings. Folsom then closed out the game for Lipscomb.
Lipscomb 3, Samford 7
Samford took control of the game early on getting on the board first with a sacrifice fly that brought in leadoff hitter Max Pinto.
The Bisons tried to respond when they loaded up the bases in the bottom of the first, but only managed to get one run from junior infielder John Shields’s RBI that allowed Adams to score tying the game 1-1.
The Bisons had a rough second inning. Samford got runners in scoring position after an RBI single. Then, a few batters later once the bases were loaded, Lipscomb pitcher Dylan Bierman hit Samford first baseman Sonny Dichiara to increase the Bulldogs lead to 3-1.
The Bisons weren’t done yet as they slowly moved runners into scoring position after an Adams double and a Bashlor walk. The Bisons were on the right side of a balk as the Samford Pitcher allowed Adams to score from third base by doing so to making it a one-run game in the third inning.
The Bisons loaded up the bases again in the fourth inning, but they once again only managed one run out of it thanks to a walk that let senior infielder David Graves to score tying up the game 3-3.
Neither team would do much offensively as the next two innings were scoreless after great pitching from reliever Grubbs.
Then Samford had a heartbreaking three-run homer to give themselves breathing room to the tune of a 6-3 lead. Then things went from bad to worse as Samford hit a solo shot off of the first pitch in the eighth inning to make the game 7-3.
The Bisons showed signs of a comeback in the last two innings but were unable to get runners on base as they went on to lose their first game of the year.
Lipscomb Coach Jeff Forehand shared his thoughts on how the game went.
“Our secret ingredient was our grit and intent,” said Forehand “Our goal was to win the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning and we lost it today.”
Despite this being Lipscomb’s first loss they are still 6-1 on the season. Coach Forehand stated that he believes the expectation from player to player is what has given them their great start.
“From player to player we’ve got a great scheme, we’ve got a great idea of what we’re trying to do overall team-wise to win a game,” said Forehand. “The most important thing is the team and how we can play every game and put our team in the best position to win.”
The Bisons’ next games will be in home series against the Ohio State Buckeyes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.