The Lipscomb Bisons completed a three game sweep of the East Tennessee State Buccaneers over the weekend.
In game one the Bisons’ bats came alive pounding out sixteen hits.
“When the hits start to spread from hitter to hitter, one guy feeds off the other. Good things happen,” head coach Jeff Forehand said.
The offensive attack for the Bisons was lead by a 5-for-5 night at the plate by junior left fielder Josh Lee and a 3-for-4 game by junior center fielder Jonathan Allison.
Allison hit a home run over the left field wall to give the Bisons an early 1-0 and later recorded a base-clearing triple that brought home two more runs. Allison finished the game with three RBI’s.
ETSU did not go down easy. They responded to the 5-0 lead by adding two runs of their own to trim the margin to three. In the 7th inning ETSU closed the gap even more by adding five more runs, but the Bisons were able to hang on for the 9-7 win.
In game two of the series, ETSU ran into a pitcher on a mission. Hunter Brothers pitched his first career complete game shut out.
“When you get that performance that is all you need. He dominated from start to finish,” Forehand said.
Junior shortstop Grant Massey lead the way offensively with a 4-for-4 day. He got the game started with a first inning triple to left and later scored on a RBI single.
“Grant is one of the key components to this team. He is leading us on offense and defense but also with the spirit he brings to the game,” Forehand said.
The Bisons would tally two more runs in the second after sophomore third baseman Austin Sistrunk led off with a double and later scored. The Bisons added two more insurance runs in sixth inning behind a pair of RBI singles from Massey and fellow junior Mike Korte.
That was all the scoring Brothers needed as he shut down the ETSU attack by striking out seven and holding them to just two hits. The Bisons took game two 5-0.
“I am so proud of him knowing all the hard work that went into that performance. That was special,” said Forehand.
This set up the chance for the Bisons to complete the sweep of their conference foe on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore pitcher Denton Norman took the mound for the Bisons and followed in Brothers’ footsteps. Norman notched his first career complete game by allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out seven.
“It starts and stops with the guy on the mound. Our bullpen was stocked and ready to go but we had another special performance,” Forehand said.
Massey laced a one-out double to get things started and was later brought home by a RBI single from Sistrunk.
Junior designated hitter Tyson Ashcraft just barely kept one inside the right field line for a two-run triple giving Lipscomb a 3-0 lead.
ETSU made things interesting plating two runs in the second and one run in the fifth, but it was not enough. Lipscomb completed the sweep with a 6-3 victory. The Bisons are 19-4 in their last twenty-three games and that is credited to the players on the field.
“It is a combination of guys doing their job. Everybody is prepared from the starting pitchers down to our guys on the bench. We are executing really well right now,” Forehand said.
Photo courtesy of: Lipscombsports.com