Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Lipscomb
Blue Raiders Drop 18-15 Decision to Lipscomb
3/6/2002 7:28:00 PM | Baseball
The good news for the Blue Raiders (7-3) in their home engagement with Lipscomb on Wednesday is that they scored 15 runs against the Bisons (3-11) after posting 18 on Tuesday.
However, the bad news is that the team surrendered 18 runs today, falling for only the third time this year and the first time in front of the home fans.
The Blue Raiders fell behind early as starting pitcher Travis Horschel surrendered two runs in the top of the second inning. Middle Tennessee rallied to knot the score with two runs of their own against Lipscomb starter Shawn Sabo.
The visitors regained the lead in the third with three more runs with the big blow coming in the form of a double off of the bat of DH Nate McCorkle.
The Blue Raiders returned fire in the bottom of the inning, plating one run when a Marshall Nisbett single chased home Justin Sims.
The Blue Raiders finally took the lead with a three run outburst in the fourth behind an RBI triple from Chuck Akers. A single from Nate Jaggers brought Akers across for the second run while a wild pitch from David Patton brought in the third run.
A solo homer from Ryan Abrams chased Horschel from the game, but reliever Jeremy Armstrong slammed the door. The Blue Raiders retaliated with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth to give the home team a 7-6 advantage.
Three more Blue Raider runs gave the Blue Raiders what seemed to be a comfortable 10-6 lead with only three innings to play.
That's about the time the roof fell in on the Blue Raiders.
Two Lipscomb runs behind an RBI double from Jeremy George and a run-producing single from McCorkle cut the lead to 10-8 after sending Armstrong out of the game.
The Bisons erupted for nine runs in the top of the eighth inning behind six hits and four Blue Raider fielding errors to take a 17-10 lead.
The Blue Raiders mounted one final rally in the bottom of the eighth. Two Lipscomb miscues and two hits led to five runs, giving the Blue Raiders life.
Lipscomb would go on to score one more in the top of the ninth and then held the home team scoreless in their final at-bat to preserve a wacky win.
Danny Borne was saddled with the loss in relief, dropping his record to 0-2 on the year. Lipscomb's David Ayre picked up the win to move to 1-0.
The Blue Raiders were led offensively by Marshall Nisbett's 3-for-6, 2 RBI performance. Jason Howarth added two RBI's with his 2-for-3 day at the plate, as well. Brett Carroll continued to swing a hot bat, turning in a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
Lipscomb was led by Abrams, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs on the day.
The Blue Raiders will have a couple of days off to regroup before a two-game series with Tennessee Tech beginning on Saturday. The teams will meet in Cookeville at 2 PM on Saturday before playing a 2 PM game in Murfreesboro on Sunday.
Lipscomb University 18, Middle Tennessee 15 (3/6/02 at Murfreesboro, TN) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lipscomb University. 023 010 291 - 18 16 6 (3-11) Middle Tennessee.... 021 313 050 - 15 15 7 (7-3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Lipscomb University - SABO; PATTON(4); CARAWAY(6); AYRE(6). Middle Tennessee - HORSCHEL; ARMSTRONG(5); BORNE(7); MOBLEY(8). Win-AYRE(1-0) Loss-BORNE(0-2) T-3:41 A-523 HR LIPS02 - ABRAMS (2); BAILEY (1). SABO faced 2 batters in the 4th. HORSCHEL faced 1 batter in the 5th.
