NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Despite an incredible comeback effort late in both games, the Belmont softball team (12-23) was tripped up in the annual Battle of the Boulevard series with Lipscomb (22-18) on Wednesday evening. The Bruins fell 7-1 in the opening game and were edged 4-3 in the nightcap.
The Bisons wasted little time getting on the board in the both the bottom of the first and third innings, posting two runs in each. LU then leaned on the pitching of Heather Parker to keep the Bruins off the board for the next two innings, despite them logging hits in each inning.
Finally, Belmont was able to notch its first run of the contest in the top of the sixth. After sophomore Heather Turner (Rosenburg, Texas) smacked a double to right and advanced to third on a Lipscomb throwing error. Sophomore Kat Hollingsworth singled to second base to put runners on the corners before senior Becca Gift (Durham, N.C.) used a sacrifice fly to score BU's lone run of the matchup. The Bisons got hot once again offensively and used three hits and a Bruin error to score three more runs to take a 7-1 lead in the bottom of the same inning, going on to win by the same score.
Game two saw Lipscomb jump out to another early lead, pulling away 4-0 by the bottom of the third inning.
The Bruins were finally able to turn up the offensive heat in the top of the fourth inning, rattling off four consecutive hits, forcing the Bisons to make a pitching change, before a single out was recorded. Turner smashed the first pitch of the fourth inning over the left field fence for a solo homerun to give Belmont its first run of the nightcap and Hollingsworth followed with a homerun over the opposite fence. Next, Gift singled and freshman Jessica Wilson (Alvin, Texas) followed with a double down the right field line to load the bases. Even with a pitching change, Lipscomb struggled to tame the hot bats of the Bruins as junior Kim Johnson (Tucson, Ariz.) singled to score another BU runner, trimming the Bisons' lead down to one run, 4-3.
Unfortunately, despite going on to record three more hits, stranding four runners, Belmont was unable to get the game-tying run over the plate and was held off 4-3 in the nightcap.
Hollingsworth led the Bruins at the plate, batting .571 after going 4-for-7 with four hits, a homerun and one RBI. Turner batted .429 and went 3-for-7 with three hits, a double, a homerun and an RBI.
Inside the circle, freshman Carolyn Snodgress (Torrance, Calif.) went the distance in the nightcap, fanning seven batters. Junior Mia Vierra (Palmdale, Calif.) tossed 5.2 innings in game one and recorded a pair of strikeouts. Freshman Taylor Moon (Vestavia, Ala.) saw relief work in game one.
Belmont returns to OVC action with a road trip to Tennessee Tech this weekend. First pitch of the doubleheader on Saturday is at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available.
