After a rocky start to the weekend, Bison Baseball closed out their series against North Alabama with a strong 14-5 victory.
The series kicked off Friday afternoon with the Lions’ making early progress as Bison pitcher junior Max Habegger allowed four runs in his inning and two thirds of work. Meanwhile, offensively the Bisons could not get anything going, until the Lions had already extended their lead to five.
Finally, in the fifth inning junior center fielder Maddux Houghton brought home a run with an RBI-triple and scored off of a wild pitch bringing the Bisons back within striking distance.
Senior infielder David Graves added to the Bisons score with a home run in the bottom of the sixth, but a North Alabama insurance run in the seventh and four runners left stranded by the Bisons clinched the game one victory for North Alabama, 6-3.
Saturday, the Bisons looked to bounce back and were able to take the early advantage with sophomore infielder Robbie Merced’s run brought home by freshman outfielder Tiger Borom.
North Alabama evened the game at 1 in the fifth inning before Houghton added to his RBI total and Merced scored another run.
The Lions would not stay at bay, however, and once again the game was tied.
Lipscomb thought they had the winning run in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore catcher Chaz Bertolani hit an RBI single, but the back and forth trend continued, and the game was tied at 3.
Sophomore closer Tyler Guilfoil, who came in during the fifth inning, was tasked with finishing the game for the Bisons, but struggled to maintain the strike zone, when he reached 100 pitches, a season-high for him.
The Lions took advantage and scored two in the ninth to take the lead and the series clinching win, 5-3.
Sunday, North Alabama was looking for the sweep, but the Bisons knew they needed to respond to stay in the ASUN tournament conversation.
Lipscomb started aggressive and won in dominating fashion, 14-5, after a seven run first inning, including a grand slam from senior infielder Brian Moore.
Not only did the Bisons dominate offensively, but defensively freshman pitcher Logan Van Treeck took care of business on the mound, allowing only two runs in his five and a third innings of work.
The Bisons were able to get strong performances from all over their batting order, including freshman designated hitter Ethan Stamps who went 4-5 on the day with three singles, one double, and an RBI.
The Lions tried to claw their way back into the game with runs in the fifth, sixth, and eight inning, but the Bisons never let off the gas, and Brian Moore? If you thought he was done after hitting his grand slam in the first, you thought wrong because Moore capped off his afternoon with a second grand slam in the eighth.
Lipscomb won the crucial game three 14-5.
The Bisons will host UT Martin on Tuesday night at 6 PM CT at home before travelling to Bellarmine this weekend to close out ASUN regular season play.