Unforced errors are a coach’s worst nightmare, and baseball’s Jeff Forehand is no exception.
The Lipscomb Bisons had plenty of opportunities to defeat their cross-town rival Belmont at Dugan field on Tuesday night, but missed opportunities on offense and defense proved too much to overcome as the Bisons eventually fell 9-7 in a game that lasted over four hours.
The Bruins jumped out to an early lead thanks to Hunter Holland’s grand slam with two outs in the top of the 1st. Although the deficit would eventually be 6-1, Lipscomb was able to crawl back into the game thanks to a six-run third inning, making it all the more difficult to eventually take the loss.
The loss moved the Bisons to 20-18 on the season as they remained 6-6 in conference play.
“I think we handled it pretty well initially,” Forehand said. “But then we just kept putting ourselves in bad spots either by getting behind in the count or giving up a leadoff walk. We bailed ourselves out of those situations a few times, but that’s not something that any team can do consistently.”
The Bison’s six-run outburst in the third was a two-out rally sparked by Jake Perry’s 2-run bomb to right field. Belmont’s pitchers struggled with command in the inning, allowing the Bisons to load the bases before Michael Gigliotti was hit by a pitch to bring in Allan Hooker.
A throwing error on a ground ball to second allowed Jackson Furstace and Tyler Bethune to score on the very next batter, giving Lipscomb a 7-6 lead.
Belmont would quickly regain the lead in the 5th, however, when Kyle Conger doubled into right-center to bring home Ben Kocher and Tyler Walsh. The Bisons retired the first two batters of the inning but were unable maintain the lead.
The Bisons had a golden opportunity to put runs on the board in the bottom of the 7th after loading the bases with just one out, but a Gigliotti strikeout followed by Lee Solomon’s groundout to second left the Bisons empty in the frame.
“I think in the fifth we got two straight guys out and then gave up two,” Forehand said “Then on offense we get the bases loaded with one out and we can’t score. Those things aren’t rocket science, they’re baseball 101, so its unfortunate that we didn’t execute in those situations.”
Second-baseman Hunter Hanks got his sixth home-run of the season with a solo shot in the second, while Perry was the only player to record multiple hits in the game, adding another single to his homer.
The third inning was the lone bright spot for the struggling Bisons offense as they recorded just four hits in the other eight frames.
Junior Nicko Ortega got the midweek start for the Bisons, pitching just two-and-a-third innings while allowing six runs on seven hits.
Lipscomb’s bullpen kept the Bruins in check for the rest of the night, but took seven additional pitchers to do so. Adam Stewart, Dallas Gibson, Ryan Stevens, Alex Dorso, Dalton Curtis, Kyle Kemp, and John Pryor all saw time at the mound during the game.
Gibson was hit with the loss in the contest while Belmont’s Zach Hodgkiss earned his first win of the season in two innings of work, and Dom Veltri earned his 7th save of the season.
Lipscomb continues conference play at home this weekend with a series against Kennessaw State. With only three more conference series to go, The Bisons are currently the 5-seed in the Atlantic Sun, a precarious position in a conference where only six teams make the postseason tournament.
“Every conference game is the same, you have to get after it,” Forehand said. “Every conference game the energy and intensity automatically goes up, but we’ll be ready for it.”
You can catch the first game of the Bison’s series against the Owls on Friday at 6 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics