Saturday, March 03, 2012

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Despite a hearty, ninth-inning comeback attempt that was one hit short of tying the game, the Lipscomb baseball team dropped a 6-4 decision to homestanding Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium on Saturday in Starkville.

The Bisonss(4-6) got off to a rocky start against the Bulldogs (8-2) as Mississippi State roughed up Lipscomb junior starter Chris Nunn (0-1) for a pair of runs in the first and four more in the second to take an early 6-0 advantage. The Bulldogs battered Nunn for four hits in the first and then drew four walks from the Southpaw that led to difference in the ballgame.

“Nobody likes a moral victory but I feel like our team grew up a little bit today,” said Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand. “Even though we lost the game, I think we grew.”

Lipscomb got things going in the fourth when junior right fielder Lee Wilson struck out to start the inning but reached on a wild pitch and then junior centerfielder Zach Lowery singled back up the middle to give Lipscomb two aboard. Senior first baseman Zak Messer moved the runners up 90 feet on a swinging bunt before junior third baseman Gray Hutchinson singled through the left side bringing home both Wilson and Lowery.

The 6-2 score held until the ninth inning thanks to a tremendous long-relief effort from junior Tyler Burstrom, who relieved Nunn in the second and senior southpaw Gil Rehwinkel, who worked a perfect eighth inning. Burstrom worked five and one-third innings scattering four hits, while allowing one walk and fanning five Bulldogs.

The Bisons made a strong run at the MSU lead in the ninth thanks to a pair of Mississippi State miscues and some timely hitting. Hutchinson ledoff the frame by reaching on a fielding miscue by the MSU shortstop before junior shortstop Aaron Sandoval, who went 3-for-4 on the day, ripped a single through the left side.

With two aboard, Forehand opted to pinch hit senior Shawn Mehring, who hit a ball back up the middle that caromed off the back of the mound and through the wickets of the MSU shortstop for his second error of the frame. The miscue allowed Hutchinson to score from second to make it a 6-3 contest. Freshman second baseman Noah Chandler then hit a line-drive base hit to left field for his second hit of the afternoon that loaded the bases full of Bisons.

Senior outfielder M.L. Williams would follow reaching on a fielder’s choice that was hit to third allowing MSU’s Daryl Norris to throw home to get the force out at the plate. Wilson then drove in his fifth run of the season with a fielder’s choice to second that scored Mehring from third to make it a 6-4 game.

That would be as close as Lipscomb would come however as MSU’s Taylor Stark got the Bulldogs out of the jam to earn his first save of the year by getting Lowery to strike out on a check swing.

“We’ve got some positive things to take away, said Forehand. “For us to not give up in the ninth inning down four runs against a good team is huge.”

Nunn took the loss for the Bisons while MSU’s Trevor Fitts (2-0) picked up the win in relief of starter Kendall Graveman. Fitts worked four and one-thirds innings allowing four hits and two unearned runs and notching three strikeouts.

The Bisons conclude play in the round-robin tournament on Sunday taking on Connecticut at 11 a.m. followed by a 2:30 p.m. contest against the Bulldogs.

(courtesy of Lipscomb University Athletics)

2012 Lipscomb Baseball
Lipscomb at Mississippi State (Game 1)
Mar 03, 2012 at Starkville, Miss. (Dudy Noble Field)

Lipscomb 4 (4-6)
Player	ab	r	h	rbi	bb	so	po	a	lob
WILLIAMS, M.L. lf	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1
WILSON, Lee rf	5	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	2
LOWERY, Zach cf	5	1	1	0	0	3	3	0	3
MESSER, Zak 1b	4	0	0	0	0	1	10	2	0
MOORE, Griffin dh	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
HUTCHINSON, Gray 3b	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
SANDOVAL, Aaron ss	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	3	0
STEWART, Taylor c	3	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	2
MEHRING, Shawn ph	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CHANDLER, Noah 2b	4	0	2	0	0	1	2	4	0
MARTINEZ, Diego pr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NUNN, Chris p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
BURSTROM, Tyler p	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
REHWINKEL, Gil p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	39	4	10	1	0	8	24	13	8

Mississippi State 6 (8-2)
Player	ab	r	h	rbi	bb	so	po	a	lob
Bradford cf	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Frazier 2b	4	2	1	0	1	1	1	2	0
Norris 3b	4	2	2	1	1	1	0	2	0
Rea 1b	3	0	1	1	0	0	10	0	0
Slauter c	3	1	0	0	1	2	8	1	1
Renfroe lf	4	0	3	4	0	0	5	0	0
Henderson dh	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0
Britton ss	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	5	5
Brownlee rf	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Woodruff rf	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Graveman p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Fitts p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Stark p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	31	6	9	6	5	7	27	12	9

Score by Innings R H E

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Lipscomb............ 000 200 002 - 4 10 0

Mississippi State... 240 000 00X - 6 9 2

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E - Britton 2(4). DP - MSTATE 1. LOB - LU 8; MSTATE 9. 2B - Frazier(6); Renfroe(3). HBP - Woodruff. SH - Henderson(2). SF - Rea(2). SB - Renfroe(2).

Lipscomb	ip	h	r	er	bb	so	wp	bk	hbp	ibb	ab	bf	fo	go	np
NUNN, Chris L,0-1	1.2	5	6	2	4	1	3	0	0	0	10	15	3	2	48

BURSTROM, Tyler

5.1

REHWINKEL, Gil	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	3	2	0	9

Mississippi State	ip	h	r	er	bb	so	wp	bk	hbp	ibb	ab	bf	fo	go	np
Graveman	3.2	5	2	2	0	4	1	0	0	0	16	16	3	4	58

Fitts W,2-0

4.1

Stark S,1

1.0

Win - Fitts (2-0). Loss - NUNN (0-1). Save - Stark (1). WP - NUNN 3(5); Graveman(1). HBP - by BURSTROM (Woodruff). PB - STEWART 2(3). Pitches/strikes: NUNN 48/26; BURSTROM 74/55; REHWINKEL 9/5; Graveman 58/36; Fitts 50/37; Stark 23/14.

Umpires - HP: Morris Hodges 1B: Leland Hollis 3B: Terrence Mobley
Start: 11:05 am Time: 2:26 Attendance:
Weather: Overcast skies, stiff breeze
Fitts faced 2 batters in the 9th.

Play-by-Play

2012 Lipscomb Baseball
Lipscomb at Mississippi State (Game 1)
Mar 03, 2012 at Starkville, Miss. (Dudy Noble Field)

Lipscomb starters: 18/lf WILLIAMS; 16/rf WILSON; 24/cf LOWERY; 12/1b MESSER; 44/dh MOORE; 5/3b HUTCHINSON; 29/ss SANDOVAL; 26/c STEWART; 21/2b CHANDLER; 15/p NUNN;

Mississippi State starters: 10/cf Bradford; 12/2b Frazier; 5/3b Norris; 35/1b Rea; 29/c Slauter; 34/lf Renfroe; 2/dh Henderson; 15/ss Britton; 42/rf Brownlee; 49/p Graveman;

Lipscomb 1st - WILLIAMS singled to left field (0-1). WILSON grounded into double play p to ss to 1b (1-1); WILLIAMS out on the play. LOWERY struck out looking (2-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Mississippi State 1st - Bradford grounded out to 2b (2-2). Frazier doubled down the lf line (1-2). Norris singled to right field, RBI (0-0); Frazier scored. Rea singled down the lf line (1-2); Norris advanced to second. Slauter lined out to 1b (0-0). Renfroe singled to left field, RBI (1-0); Rea advanced to second; Norris scored. Renfroe advanced to second on a wild pitch; Rea advanced to third. Henderson walked (3-0). Britton grounded out to p (0-1). 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.

Lipscomb 2nd - MESSER struck out swinging (2-2). MOORE grounded out to ss (2-2). HUTCHINSON flied out to lf (0-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Mississippi State 2nd - Brownlee struck out swinging, reached first on a passed ball (1-2). Bradford flied out to cf (0-0). Frazier walked (3-0); Brownlee advanced to second. Frazier advanced to second on a wild pitch; Brownlee advanced to third on a wild pitch. Norris walked (3-1). Rea flied out to cf, SAC, RBI (0-0); Brownlee scored, unearned. Norris advanced to second on a wild pitch; Frazier advanced to third. Slauter walked (3-2). Renfroe doubled to right field, 3 RBI (0-2); Slauter scored, unearned; Norris scored, unearned; Frazier scored, unearned. BURSTROM to p for NUNN. Renfroe stole third. Henderson walked (3-1). Britton struck out swinging (0-2). 4 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Lipscomb 3rd - Woodruff to rf for Brownlee. SANDOVAL singled through the left side (3-1). STEWART popped up to ss (0-0). CHANDLER lined out to lf (0-0). WILLIAMS grounded out to 3b (3-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Mississippi State 3rd - Woodruff struck out swinging (1-2). Bradford out at first 1b to p (1-2). Frazier grounded out to 2b (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Lipscomb 4th - WILSON struck out swinging, reached first on a wild pitch (0-2). LOWERY singled up the middle (2-0); WILSON advanced to second. MESSER grounded out to c, bunt (1-0); LOWERY advanced to second; WILSON advanced to third. MOORE struck out swinging (3-2). HUTCHINSON singled through the left side (1-0); LOWERY scored; WILSON scored. SANDOVAL singled through the left side (2-2); HUTCHINSON advanced to second. Fitts to p for Graveman. STEWART popped up to 2b (1-2). 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Mississippi State 4th - Norris struck out swinging (0-2). Rea grounded out to ss (3-2). Slauter struck out swinging (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Lipscomb 5th - CHANDLER struck out swinging (1-2). WILLIAMS fouled out to lf (0-0). WILSON singled to left field (1-2). LOWERY struck out looking (1-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Mississippi State 5th - Renfroe singled to third base (1-2). Henderson grounded out to p, SAC, bunt (0-0); Renfroe advanced to second. Britton grounded out to ss (0-0). Woodruff hit by pitch (1-2). Bradford reached on a fielder's choice (0-2); Woodruff out at second ss unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Lipscomb 6th - MESSER grounded out to ss (0-0). MOORE struck out looking (0-2). HUTCHINSON grounded out to p (1-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Mississippi State 6th - Frazier grounded out to 2b (0-0). Norris singled to third base (2-2). Rea fouled out to 3b (0-2). Norris advanced to second on a passed ball. Slauter struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Lipscomb 7th - SANDOVAL grounded out to ss (0-1). STEWART grounded out to ss (0-0). CHANDLER singled up the middle (1-0). WILLIAMS singled through the left side (0-0); CHANDLER advanced to second. WILSON fouled out to lf (0-0). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Mississippi State 7th - Renfroe grounded out to p (0-2). Henderson singled to right field (0-2). Britton

to right field, out at second rf to ss to 1b to 2b (0-0); Henderson advanced to third. Woodruff grounded out to 2b (0-2). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Lipscomb 8th - LOWERY grounded out to 2b (0-0). MESSER flied out to lf (0-0).

MOORE lined out to 1b (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Mississippi State 8th - REHWINKEL to p for BURSTROM. Bradford popped up to 2b, bunt. Frazier struck out swinging (2-2). Norris flied out to cf (2-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Lipscomb 9th - HUTCHINSON reached on a fielding error by ss (2-1). SANDOVAL singled through the left side (3-1); HUTCHINSON advanced to second. Stark to p for Fitts. MEHRING pinch hit for STEWART. MEHRING reached on a fielding error by ss (1-2); SANDOVAL advanced to second; HUTCHINSON scored, unearned. CHANDLER singled through the left side (3-1); MEHRING advanced to second; SANDOVAL advanced to third. MARTINEZ pinch ran for CHANDLER. WILLIAMS reached on a fielder's choice (3-2); MARTINEZ advanced to second; MEHRING advanced to third; SANDOVAL out at home 3b to c. WILSON reached on a fielder's choice, RBI (1-0); WILLIAMS out at second 2b to ss; MARTINEZ advanced to third; MEHRING scored, unearned. LOWERY struck out swinging (1-2). 2 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB.

Lipscomb 4 (4-6)

Mississippi State 6 (8-2)