DeLAND, Fla.- Lipscomb's lineup aided Rex Brothers' 6 1/3 shutout
innings with 17 hits and 14 runs to lift the No. 1 seeded Bisons to
a 14-0 victory over No. 6 Campbell in the opening round of the 2008
Atlantic Sun Tournament, Wednesday afternoon at Melching Field at
Conrad Park. Campbell
(20-36) was shutout for just the third time this season.
Lipscomb (29-27) rode the strong arm of Brothers (3-5) as he
carried a no-hitter for 5 2/3 innings to earn his third victory of
the season. The sophomore
from Chapel Hill, Tenn. faced the minimum in five of six complete
innings he pitched, striking out five batters in 6 1/3 innings of
work. Charles Williams shut
the door out of the pen allowing just one hit in 2 2/3 frames of
shutout ball.
Brandon Scott ruined Brothers' no-hitter as he hit a bloop single
over the second baseman's head with two outs in the sixth. Stephen Parsons was the only
other Camel to have a hit.
Ryan Hamme (1-4) ran into trouble early and was strapped with the
loss after allowing six runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched. Hamme, one of four Campbell hurlers to
throw, walked three and didn't strikeout a batter.
Lipscomb's offense applied pressure early and didn't hold off as
seven different players had multi-hit performances and four
different players had multi-RBI games. Justin Sanders and Caleb Joseph headed
an attack in which the two through five hitters in the Bisons'
lineup combined for 13 runs batted in. Sanders went 3-for-5 with five RBI,
including a double and a home run, while Joseph finished the day
batting 2-for-4 with four RBI, four runs scored and a homer. Allen Bolden also had three hits
in the contest.
After Lipscomb took an early three run lead thanks to a bases
loaded double to center field off the bat of Sanders, the Bisons
capitalized on a misfired double play attempt by Campbell shortstop
Zach Johnson that would have ended the second inning. Lipscomb proceeded to score five runs
in the inning, headlined by a two run shot to right field from
Sanders to take an 8-0 lead. The long ball is Sanders' seventh of
the season.
Lipscomb added a single run in the fourth as Joseph reached base on
one of Campbell's four errors in the game. Blake Bratcher smoked a double to
right-center to score Joseph all the way from first base.
Lipscomb's final blow came in the eighth inning as three
consecutive singles by Branden Cadavid, Ben Williams and Jorge
Gutierrez set the stage for two consecutive extra base hits. Bolden lashed a two RBI double
to left-center and Joseph followed with his 15th homer
of the season. The Bisons
finished the inning scoring five runs and finalized the score at
14-0.
The margin of victory represented the largest win by shutout at the
A-Sun Championship since 1987 when Georgia Southern defeated
Stetson 18-0. The 14-0 win marks the second-largest shutout win in
the 30-year history of the A-Sun Championship.
Campbell will face elimination and when it plays the loser of the
No. 2 Mercer vs. No. 5 Stetson game tomorrow (May 22) at Melching
Field. The first pitch is
slated for 11 a.m.
