The Lipscomb Lady Bisons (27-11) hosted their first ASUN conference series at home this weekend against The Stetson Hatters (23-9), garnering 14 hits in the final match.
Lipscomb played two road series against ASUN conference opponents (USC Upstate, Jacksonville) on the road this season, going 3-3.
Sophomore third baseman Sarah Higgins was red hot the past two games getting six hits in her last seven at bats with one homer, 4 RBI’s and two runs scored.
“Sarah has had so many quality at bats lately,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said. “She’s gotten solid barrel to the ball. I felt like she was getting solid barrel to the ball in the games before this weekend — she just couldn’t catch a break, so its good to finally see her get some breaks and hit those holes.”
The Lady Bison’s weekend got off to a rough start as they were shut out in a 2-0 extra-inning loss to Stetson in the first game of the series. Lipscomb had been shut out in the previous two games leading up to this game. Before last week, Lipscomb hadn’t been shutout all season in 36 games.
Despite the team’s offensive struggles, it didn’t stop sophomore pitcher Mandy Jordan from having a stellar performance, pitching all eight innings and only giving up one earned run and striking out 11.
In the second game of Saturday’s double header, the Lady Bison’s were able to break the 22-inning shutout streak when Higgins hit a two-run homer. Lipscomb scored three more runs in the game off nine hits, going on to win 5-3.
In the series finale Sunday morning, the Lady Bison’s offense was able to really get rolling scoring wise with at least one run in every inning except the sixth, grabbing the most hits they’ve had in a ASUN conference game all season with 14.
Junior first baseman Catlin Plocheck got the offense started in the first inning, hitting a solo homerun to left field. However, in the second, Stetson tied the game at 1, thanks to a sac fly from Stetson’s center fielder Jazz Vasquez.
But then Lipscomb regained the lead in the bottom half of the second, thanks to RBI hits from sophomore Destinee Brewer and junior Abby Fenichel. After taking the lead in the second, Lipscomb refused to lose it and won 7-1.
Jordan had another stellar pitching performance, hurling all seven innings, only giving up one run off five hits.
The Lady Bison’s have dominated at home this season going 14-1.
“We love playing here,” Ryman said. “It’s a great facility, and we’re well supported fan wise. You can’t always get into a routine on the road, whereas here we always get to the field at the same time — always take batting practice first — so I think there’s a lot to be said for that.”
The Lady Bisons (28-12) take on Samford (16-24) Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Draper Diamond field.
“Samford’s a really quality team,” Ryman noted. “They’ve been up and down this year. They haven’t had the best year in terms of their standards; they’ve struggled to build off their success last year. But we’re expecting them to play hard and give us a really good battle. We’re going to have to show up and be on top of our game.”
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics