KNOXVILLE — Lipscomb defeated No. 4 Tennessee 4-1 Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Bisons held the Vols scoreless through the final eight innings en route to the victory.
The win marks the first win against Tennessee since 2008 and the first victory against a top-five opponent since 2015.
Tiger Borom was a spark offensively with his ninth multi-hit game and fifth mutli-RBI game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lipscomb's offense gave starting pitcher Ike Buxton early support scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Borom set the tone by showing his speed to leadoff the game, beating a throw for an infield single. With two outs, Malik Williams kept his hot streak alive with an RBI double to give Lipscomb a 1-0 lead.
Buxton did well in the first inning on the mound limiting the damage to just one run with two strikeouts to make it a 1-1 ballgame after the first complete.
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The Bisons built on its early offense in the top of the second. After Carter Smith started the inning off with a single to right field, Merced reached on an error. Both runners then advanced to scoring position on a sacrifice fly. Borom stayed hot and delivered a base-clearing single up the middle for a 3-1 lead.
Lipscomb increased its lead later in the inning when Maddux Houghton singled through the left side and Borom scored for a 4-1 lead after two.
Still leading by three runs heading into the bottom of the third, Patrick Williams took over the mound and forced a three up, three down inning, capped off with a strikeout.
The Volunteers threatened to cut into the lead in the fourth with one out and a couple runners on, but Patrick Williams forced a double play ball to get out of the inning with no damage.
Gavin Grubbs took the mound for the fifth inning. After a shaky start, walking two, Grubbs got out of the jam with a big strikeout for another scoreless inning.
How about them Bisons 🦬⚡️ pic.twitter.com/MtEfyQVyDc
— Lipscomb Baseball (@BisonBaseball) April 28, 2021
The pitching duel continued in the seventh as teams traded scoreless innings. Matthew Maldonado took over the Lipscomb mound in the bottom of the seventh. Tennessee threatened to break things open, loading the bases but Maldonado was up to the task and got out of the jam for the eighth-consecutive scoreless inning for the Bisons' defense.
Tyler Drabick was called on in the bottom of the eighth out of the bullpen to shut down Tennessee. He stranded a runner and sent Lipscomb to the ninth with a three-run lead.
Drabick sealed the deal, retiring the Vols in order in the bottom of the ninth, to secure his first save of the season.
Patrick Williams earned his first win of the season, throwing two scoreless innings with two hits, a strikeout and just one walk.
HEAD COACH JEFF FOREHAND
"What a solid game all the way around. Malik had a big double in the first to score Tiger to get us off to a good start. Tiger was setting the table all game for us and driving them in. He had some great at-bats. Maddux had a big base hit as well."
"Tonight was about the pitching! What a tremendous job by all of them. Ike got us off to a great start and Patrick, Maldonado and Grubbs had some big pitches for us. Tyler Drabick took it over in the eighth and was lights out. This was a great team win and will lead us into a big ASUN weekend."
HERD NOTES
- This is the first time Lipscomb has beaten Tennessee since 2008.
- The victory marks the first for the Bisons at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
- Tuesday's win was the first against a top-five ranked team since 2015.
- Tennessee has been held to fewer than two runs just two other times this season.
UP NEXT
The Bisons will return home to Nashville for a three-game conference series against North Alabama April 30-May 2. First pitch is slated for Friday at 6 p.m. CT.
