NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 29, 2025) – The University of North Alabama baseball team dropped the second game of its series against Lipscomb on Saturday, 6-5. This evens the series with the deciding game set for Sunday at noon.
The Lions hit .556 when leading off an inning, which was five of their six hits on the afternoon.
The Lions (8-16, 5-3 ASUN) scored five runs during game two and answered Lipscomb in the seventh with a two-run inning. Five different UNA batters secured a hit with Nash Rippen leading the way — going 2-for-5 on the day with two RBIs and a run.
North Alabama threw three different pitchers today. Freshman Tripp Patterson got the Saturday start where he went five innings, allowed two hits and struck out one in 20 batters faced. He threw 87 total pitches with 52 strikes.
Dylan Morrill was the second man up, going 2.1 innings on the afternoon, allowing seven hits and five runs to score. He threw 45 pitches — 30 being strikes. Gavin Oswald finished the day throwing the final two outs of the eighth. He allowed one hit in four batters faced.
RJ Sherwood led off in the designated hitter's spot and sent a solo shot homer over the left field wall in the top of the fifth. That was the Lions 13th home run this season and Sherwood's first.
Lipscomb (10-15, 4-4 ASUN) found their bats in a big way in game two. The Bisons hit over .350 with two outs, runners on and runners in scoring position — the latter two being over .400. Their four pitchers threw 13 collective strikeouts on the day.
With a 2-0 lead for UNA in the sixth, Nash Rippen and Jonathan Lane singled to the outfield. After a throwing error by Lipscomb, the bases got loaded from an Alex Wade fielder's choice that was called safe. A wild pitch scored Rippen to make it 3-0.
Then Lipscomb's bats came alive. Two straight singles in the bottom of the inning and a walk loaded the bases. Two more singles scored two runners and then a groundout to Leighton Jenkins at short tied the game 3-3.
The Lions answered in the top of the seventh. Billingsley walked while Petey Craska was hit by a pitch. Delgado then walked to load the bases. Rippen ripped it to right center for two RBIs as both Billingsley and Craska scored. Three straight outs left Delgado stranded.
Lipscomb wiped the inning away with its own two run inning. Back-to-back two-out doubles notched a run for the Bisons, then the next batter singled to right field to score the man on second to tie the game once again at 5-5. Another pair of doubles in the bottom of the eighth scored another run for Lipscomb.
The Lions got Craska on by way of walk in the final inning, but he only got as far as second before the final out to strand the tying run in scoring position.
Pitchers of Record
W – Cameron Guise (1-1)
L – Dylan Morrill (2-2)
S – N/A
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions play for the series tomorrow, March 30 at 12 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats at RoarLions.com.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
