UTM uses right moves to slip past Lipscomb

Posted: Friday, March 30, 2012 12:00 pm

Matt Haynes delivered the game-winning hit with a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning, while Dan Tobik struck out the side in each of the final two innings in UT Martin’s 4-3 victory over Lipscomb under the lights at Skyhawk Field.
With the victory, UTM improves to 8-16 on the season after posting victories in four of its last five contests.
Haynes smacked an 0-1 pitch just inside the right field line with one out in the eighth to propel the Skyhawks ahead after Lipscomb had scored three unanswered runs.
“Lipscomb’s pitcher at the time was a fastball/slider type of guy and we thought Matt would give us a real good at-bat,” Skyhawk head coach Bubba Cates said.
Phil Sorensen had given UT Martin an early lead with a towering three-run homer in the fourth, his second consecutive game with a homer. The sophomore from Erie, Pa. has now driven in eight runs in his last two outings.
The Skyhawks were able to hang in the game thanks to a spectacular effort out of redshirt junior Brendan Lozupone. In his sixth start of the season, the 6-1 southpaw hurled a career-high 6.2 innings, scattering six hits and allowing three runs (two earned). He induced nine groundouts and fanned three batters while tossing 66 of his 100 pitches for strikes.
Earning his second mound victory in as many appearances, Tobik (2-1) was electric on the hill. Entering the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, he needed just two pitches to keep the game tied at 3-all, forcing Lipscomb into a fielder’s choice. From that point on, he was literally unhittable, recording his final six outs via strikeout.
Lozupone was sharp from the start, retiring eight of the first nine batters on his way to holding Lipscomb scoreless through four innings. Published in The WCP 3.29.12