As a team, the Blue Raiders (12-11-1) posted 15 hits but did commit three errors and left 14 runners stranded in the loss.

Junior Kevin Whittaker took the loss on the mound as he allowed seven runs on seven hits in two innings of work.

At the plate, junior Zach Dean led Middle Tennessee as he ended the day 3 for 5 with one RBI and a home run. Sophomore Blake McDade and juniors Taylor Dennis and Nathan Hines also added assistance. McDade went 2 for 4 scoring two runs while Dennis was also 2 for 4. Hines added two hits in five at bats scoring one run.

Junior Rawley Bishop only had one hit in the game but it was a three-run blast to put the Blue Raiders on the board first.

Lipscomb (15-11) notched 14 hits with just one error and left only nine on base as it was able to post hits when needed. Charles Williams recorded the win as he allowed one run on six hits in three innings of work.

Bishop hit a three-run home run to give the Blue Raiders an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

Lipscomb responded with five runs of its own in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead.

Allen Bolden added another run to the board for the Bisons making it 6-3 in the bottom of the second.

Dean's solo home run to right field closed the gap making it 6-4 in the top of the third.

Lipscomb did not let Dean's home run go unanswered as Justin Sanders hit one of his own to right field to extend the lead by three.

The Blue Raiders did not score again until the top of the sixth when McDade scored from third on a double play ball to cut the Lipscomb lead again to two.

Once again the Bisons had an answer scoring one run from third with no outs on a single to left field. Picchiottino padded the Lipscomb lead to six as his three-run home run to left field made it 11-5. In the bottom of the eighth the Bisons added two runs one on a sacrifice fly and the other on a wild pitch by freshman Jud Stoltz to pad the lead a little more 13-5.

Senior Zach Barrett hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth with two outs to give Middle Tennessee a boost and trim the lead to seven.

Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Wednesday, April 9 at 6 p.m., beginning a six-game homestand, when it plays host to Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. The first 100 fans will receive a replica hard hat in conjunction with "Hard Hat Night" sponsored by Olympian Construction, who is the contractor for the ongoing renovations at Reese Smith Field.

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