Lipscomb baseball proves that pressure is powerful versus Austin Peay

Most would think that an opposing team putting up between two and four runs in the very first inning would be a death knell for the home team. Yet on both Friday and Saturday, Lipscomb baseball proved that wasn’t the case.

Facing off against Austin Peay, Lipscomb brought home the victory in both of their first two games against the Governors. Both games, however, were a battle.

Friday, April 24, Lipscomb saw the Govs put up a whopping four runs in the first inning of the game. Though the fans initially despaired, the Bisons were quick to answer. Bringing six batters up in the bottom half of the second, Lipscomb seized every opportunity, including a passed ball, to put three runs on the board.

That wasn’t enough for the Bisons, though, and in the bottom of the fifth, they brought three more players across home plate. Now leading 6-4, the energy in both the dugout and the stands was electric. Over 400 fans were in attendance, cheering on their respective teams.

Though the Governors would manage to eke out one more run in the top of the seventh, it wouldn’t be enough. The game closed out just after nine with a Bisons’ victory, 6-5. Bisons’ senior left-handed pitcher Alexander Llinas took the win, while Bisons’ graduate student right-handed pitcher Kaleb Kantola earned the save.

The Bisons headed into Saturday’s game full of energy, as did the Governors. However, the Governors’ energy quickly turned out to be negative, resulting in two ejections throughout the game.

One of their players was ejected for swearing at the umpires from the dugout, but it was their head coach that made the greatest stir.

Objecting to an out-at-first call that closed the top of the seventh, head coach Roland Fanning stormed across the field from his position on the third base line to argue with the first base umpire, Todd Henderson. Kicking up a slew of dirt upon reaching first base, he proceeded to get right in Henderson’s face, shouting out some very choice words.

Henderson’s response was quick: “That’s it! You’re done!”

Another umpire, Chris Deichman from third base, had to come over and separate the two. He then walked Fanning from first base to the dugout to gather his stuff, and then escorted him from the field. The Lipscomb fans in attendance waved goodbye, many of them standing, and quite a few cheering, having objected to Fanning’s poor sportsmanship throughout the two games.

Though Austin Peay had started the game off in the dominant position again, bringing home two runs in the top of the first inning, the Bisons were quick to respond to the pressure. In fact, one might even say that the pressure fueled the Bisons, as every time the Govs’ put up a run, the Bisons answered.

In fact, the Bisons put up a run in almost every inning. They logged one in the first, two in the third and three in the fourth. By the close of the fourth, they were leading 6-5. They added insurance to that with one run in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Yet the Governors answered in the sixth, bringing home two runs to bring the score to 8-7, closing in on the Bisons’ lead. In the top of the seventh, they would advance even further, a home run off the bat of redshirt sophomore infielder Cole Johnson brought three home. Now the score was 10-8 in the Govs’ favor.

But as with Friday’s game, the Bisons refused to stay down. Senior outfielder Keaton Mahan, who had come in to pinch hit during the bottom of the seventh, came up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Sophomore infielder Brady Miller was on second, while junior outfielder Jacob Tobias, pinch running, was in scoring position at third.

The first pitch was a strike. The next was a ball, followed by a strike. With two outs on the board, the fans were on the edge of their seats. Mahan swung and fouled twice, staying in the fight. Then, it came.

Driving a single out to left field, Mahan streaked for first. While the Govs’ scrambled for the ball, both Tobias and Miller tore for home base. The dugout and stands broke into cheers, as Mahan roared in celebration from first base. The Bisons were now tied with the Govs, 10-10.

Then, the ninth inning. Redshirt freshman shortstop and right-handed pitcher Caden Shanks shut down the Govs in the top of the inning, holding them at 10. In the bottom of the inning, with two outs on the board, junior utility player Hutson Miles tripled out to right field.

With Miles in scoring position, freshman infielder Cole Pippenger came in to pinch hit. He singled to center field, bringing Miles home, and the Lipscomb dugout and bullpen exploded.

Vaulting over the fences, the Bisons raced out to first base, grabbing “Pipp” and running to outfield. There, they lifted Pipp into the air, pulled his jersey off of him and swung it around like a battle flag. Cheering and jumping up and down, the team made their way back to the dugout for their postgame meeting.

While huddled in the dugout, head coach Jeff Forehand called out “what about the kiddddd?!” This led to a resounding cheer, followed by a chant of “Pipp! Pipp! Pipp!” that was taken up by the whole team.

“It felt amazing,” Pippenger said, about hitting the winning single. “It was an incredible game, back and forth. The environment was great, and I couldn’t ask for anything better… Every inning they came out and hit us and we hit right back. We were there the whole time competing, battling.”

Forehand spoke to how the team handled the pressure of the two games. “I think that earlier in the year we wouldn’t have responded the way we did today,” he explained. “But I think now, you’ve played several games, playing at home, and the environment was like it was… we responded pretty good. We walked that one off.”

“The team fought really hard today,” Mahan said. “It was just, having to put some at bat’s together and really collectively doing it as a team to win that. It felt really good,” he grinned, referencing his game-tying hit. “I got down in a two-strike count and knew I needed to poke something the other way, just stayin’ on that heater. It felt really good hitting first and seeing those two runs come in and tie up the ballgame.”

“Honestly, these past couple games have been tough,” Mahan added. “Skip thinks we’ve shown a lot of resilience and built up a lot of momentum going into the tournament and getting into this last part of the season… and I think under pressure we do really well as a team.”

Unfortunately, the Bisons were unable to carry the momentum forward into their Sunday match against the Govs, falling 6-2. They did, however, win the series, 2-1, taking their overall record to 19-21 on the season.

The Bisons’ next game will be at home, on Tuesday the 28 at 6pm, against Tennessee Tech.

Featured image taken by Micah Barkley.