After leading 2-1 at the beginning of the game, the Lipscomb baseball team lost 5-2 to Austin Peay Wednesday afternoon at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium.
The initial lead faded in the top of the fifth, as the Governors tied it up with a run-scoring double by starting pitcher Alex Robles.
The game slipped away from Lipscomb after the seventh inning. Austin Peay scored two more runs on a single in the top of the eighth. Robles got his second run scoring double to give the Governors a five to two lead.
Junior Jaesung (J) Hwang, the Bisons starting pitcher, made his first appearance since May 2013. He pitched five innings and got a no decision for his intial start this year.
“J was great,” Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand said. “We have been anxiously awaiting his return. He is going to be one of our top guys. I thought he had a very solid performance.”
Senior Grant Massey was the only Bison to have RBI’s for the whole game. He drove in two runs on a single in the bottom of the third inning.
“I knew I had an open bag,” Massey said. “So I knew he would probably go off speed right there and pound it away. I was looking outside and pounded the four hole right there.”
Massey added that the Bisons were able to turn the most double plays of the season, with three in one game.
“J was hitting his spots everywhere, keeping the ball down and putting it where it needed to go to get ground balls,” Massey said. “It was easy from there on out.”
The Bisons had an error and eight players left on base throughout the entire game. Massey and coach Forehand agreed that there should’ve been less runners stranded.
“I think we left too many guys on third base,” Forehand said. “The approach is to stay up the middle of the field and try to drive the ball up the middle.”
Massey said that the team could improve in preparation for the weekend against LaSalle.
“We definitely need to finish the game out, making the easy plays and going back to the little things, like making plays on bunts,” Massey said.
Lipscomb will return to the diamond this weekend against LaSalle. Friday’s first pitch will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m.