Rex Brothers kept the Campbell offense at bay, holding the Camels' offense hitless for 5.2 innings. Courtesy ASunPhotos.com
Date Posted: 5/21/2008
DeLAND, Fla. - Top-seeded Lipscomb jumped on Campbell early and often en route to taking game one at the 2008 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship Presented by Progress Energy by the count of 14-0 from Stetson’s Melching Field at Conrad Park.
The Bisons (29-27) broke out the bats one out into the game, as three straight hitters, Allen Bolden, Caleb Joseph and Blake Bratcher reached to load the bases for Justin Sanders. Sanders, who collected only two hits in 12 at bats last week against the Camels (20-36), smoked a double over the center fielder Graham Fronk’s head that cleared the bases.
One inning later, Sanders capped a five-run inning by launching a two-run home run over the fence in right field, his seventh on the season, increasing Lipscomb’s lead to 8-0. Sanders finished the day 3-for-5 with five RBI. Early in the frame, with two outs and a run in, Joseph singled home Bolden and Bratcher singled in Joseph in front of Sanders’ shot.
For good measure, the Bisons added five runs in the ninth, highlighted by Joseph’s 15th home run, a three-run blast to left center. Joseph, who on Tuesday was named a First-Team All-Atlantic performer for a second time, drove in four and scored four, tying the single-game record for runs scored in an A-Sun Championship game.
“We sent a pretty good message at 14-0,” Sanders said. “Coming in and scoring 14 runs…this is a totally different team than last year.”
The offensive support proved to be more than enough for sophomore starter Rex Brothers. Brothers, who got touched up for six earned runs in only 3.2 innings against the Camels last Thursday was brilliant on this day, allowing just a lone base hit, a single by Brandon Scott with two away in the sixth inning. He struck out five in 6.1 innings to improve to 3-5 on the season.
“When we came here we knew it was a new season, especially for me because I had a rough outing last time,” Brother said. “It was a brand new start so I just came out and gave it everything I had.”
Lipscomb advances to face the loser of the Belmont vs. Gardner-Webb game, scheduled for 3:00pm on Thursday. Campbell will face the loser of tonight’s Mercer vs. Stetson contest at 11:00am.
Notes: Campbell donned black jerseys for the first time this season…Lipscomb became the final, current, eligible Atlantic Sun school to win a game at the A-Sun Championships…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.
The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.
