The Lady Bisons (11-9) softball team went 2-2 in this weekend’s Purple and Gold Challenge.
The five team round robin-style tournament was played at Draper Diamond and featured Youngstown State, Indiana State, Furman, and Troy.
The first game was Friday night against the Furman Paladins (9-11). Senior Tanner Sanders started the game in the circle for Lipscomb.
The first hit of the game was a first pitch, lead-off home run from Furman’s Candace Johnson, to give the Paladins an early 1-0 lead.
“Anytime you start the game with first pitch, first hit home run it’s going to give your team [Furman] a lot of confidence,” head coach Kristin Ryman said.
But the Lady Bisons fought back to tie it late, as sophomore Abbey Fenichel’s sacrifice fly scored Destinee Brewer and tied the game in the bottom of the seventh.
The Paladins took advantage of a bases loaded opportunity in the opening frame of the eighth as AnnaRose Borrelli hit a grand slam off of Sanders (5-4) to give Furman the lead for good. The Lady Bisons salvaged one run in the bottom of the eighth but ultimately fell 7-3.
“Credit their hitters, they’re up there hacking away and battling counts, making her [Sanders] throw a lot of pitches,” Ryman said.
Senior pitcher Kelly Young got the nod in Lipscomb’s second game of the challenge against Troy Saturday.
Freshman Sarah Higgins did her part to help out Young by hitting her fifth home run of the year in the third inning to give Lipscomb the only lead it needed.
Young pitched a complete game shutout on the way to her third win of the year and Lipscomb’s first win in the Purple and Gold Challenge, 2-0.
The second game on Saturday for the Lady Bisons had Sanders in the circle for Lipscomb against Youngstown State (6-5).
This game went into extra innings for Sanders and Purple and Gold. Senior Baylee Williams provided all the offense for Lipscomb, driving in the Bisons’ only two runs and going 3-4 in the game.
Once again the extra frame was not kind to Lipscomb or Sanders (5-5) as the Lady Bisons fell 4-2 to earn a split on Saturday.
“We need to decide what we want to be as a team, and they want to be relentless fighters,” Ryman said.
The final game for Lipscomb in the Purple and Gold Challenge featured the Lady Bisons against the Indiana State Sycamores (3-9). Freshman Mandy Jordan took the circle for Lipscomb.
The two teams combined for 24 hits, 21 runs and six errors in a game lasted nearly three hours. The teams traded runs until the fourth, where Lipscomb held a 5-2 lead.
“I thought we did a good job today of reversing what we would normally do, and being a little bit more patient and waiting to see what she brought to us,” Ryman said.
At the top of fifth Indiana State scored six runs off of Kelly Young and took an 8-5 lead.
The Lady Bisons came back and added seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take a four run lead into the last inning. Sanders came in for relief of Young (4-2) as Lipscomb held on 12-9 and earned a 2-2 split in the Purple and Gold Challenge.
“We’ve got to be mature enough to turn the page and go hit, and I thought we did,” Ryman said.
The Lady Bisons play at Chattanooga on Wednesday, Mar. 9.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics