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Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a game that started out as a back-and-forth affair through the first four innings, saw the Lipscomb offense take control of the game in the middle innings. Eastern Illinois pulled within two runs, but the Bisons offense scored five runs late to seal a 16-9 victory. The Panthers pounded out 13 hits in the loss. EIU drops to 1-15 on the season, as Lipscomb improves to 10-7.

Eastern Illinois will finish their Tennessee spring break road trip with a three-game series at Memphis this weekend.

The Bisons began the scoring battle early on with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Von Watson flied out to right field for a sacrifice fly to bring in Lee Solomon to put the home team ahead 1-0.

Frankie Perrone began the second inning beating out an infield single. He moved up 90 feet following a walk to Josh Turnock. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up to second and third. Nick Maton put EIU in the scoring column with an RBI groundout. Joseph Duncan gave Eastern Illinois a one-run lead as he beat out an infield single. The Panthers scored their final run in the inning as Duncan stole second base and Jason Scholl saw the throw out to second base and touched home on the play to give the Panthers a 3-1 advantage.

The lead did not last long however, as Lipscomb responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Three-straight hits by the Bisons with the final being an RBI single by Hunter Hanks gave Lipscomb their first run of the inning. The scoring continued as Solomon would bring home a run with an RBI sacrifice fly to right field. Adam Lee regained the lead for Lipscomb with an RBI single through the right side to put the score at 4-3.

A two-out rally sparked the Panthers offense in the third inning. Mitch Gasbarro doubled to left field and moved Perrone up to third base. The pair moved up another 90 feet following a wild pitch by the Lipscomb starter, Adam Stewart. Scholl drove in Gasbarro with a double of his own that found some grass in the right center gap. Maton followed suit with an RBI double to put EIU ahead 6-4.

A Zeke Dodson single, followed by a Sorrells RBI double to right field pulled Lipscomb within a run. EIU turned to Chase Thurston out of the bullpen, as he recorded three-straight outs to maintain the Panthers lead after three frames.  

With two runners on in the fourth inning for Lipscomb, EIU got a key out in the inning as Thurston picked off a runner at second base. The Bisons would not let up in the inning as Dodson would tie the score at 6-6 with his RBI double in the left center gap.

The scoring took a brief pause in the fifth inning, but Lipscomb was able to break back into the scoring column with a run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead. Michael Gigliotti started the inning with a four-pitch walk. After stealing second and third, Gigliotti came around to score on a Lee RBI double.

The Lipscomb offense began to pull away from Eastern Illinois as the Bisons put up four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. A suicide squeeze score the first run for LU in the inning. An RBI single and two RBI walks gave the Bisons an 11-6 advantage.

After being held scoreless through the middle innings of the game, the Eastern Illinois offense came back to life in the eighth inning. The Panthers scored two of their runs with a big two-run single by Demetre Taylor. An errant throw on a failed pickoff attempt to get Taylor at first base allowed Cale Hennemann to score to bring EIU within two runs at 11-9.

Lipscomb added five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Solomon started the scoring streak with an RBI single out to center field. An RBI double and an RBI single followed the Solomon hit to add to the Bisons totals. LU scored their final run due to an error by the Panthers to head into the final frame up by a score of 16-9.

The Panthers came up empty handed in the ninth, going down in order as Lipscomb would seal the 16-9 win.

Thurston (0-1) suffered the loss for the Panthers allowing two runs in 3.1 innings on the bump. Alex Dorso (1-0) earned his first win of the season tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Gasbarro led the EIU offense going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Duncan, Taylor, and Scholl added two hits each.