NASHVILLE—With 11 runs on the scoreboard for each team through the end of five innings, Lipscomb exploded for 10 sixth-inning tallies and went on top visiting NJIT, 22-12, on Saturday to complete the Bisons' three-game sweep of the Atlantic Sun Conference baseball series between the teams.
 
NJIT (16-26; 2-9 Atlantic Sun) ran into an offensive buzzsaw when it visited Lipscomb (23-21; 7-5 Atlantic Sun) for the first-ever baseball games between the schools.
 
The Bisons scored 11 runs in each game of their doubleheader sweep Friday evening, topping the Highlanders 11-2 in the opener and then rallying for six runs with two outs in the ninth inning of the nightcap to tie the score at 10-10 before winning an inning later, 12-11, on two runs in the bottom of the 10th after the Highlanders had gone back ahead with a run in the top half.
 
Lipscomb's 22 hits in the Friday Game Two victory were a season high for the Bisons and they pounded out 20 more hits on Saturday, while scoring a school-record 22 runs.
 
Saturday's 22 runs were the most scored in a game against the Highlanders since May 15, 2010, when Utah Valley topped the Highlanders, 24-7, in Orem, UT.
 
This whole weekend was an anomaly for NJIT's normally-solid pitching. Through this season's first 39 games, the Highlanders had allowed only three double-figure scoring games. Lipscomb generated three double-digit games in a span of less than 24 hours vs. NJIT.
 
Lost in the Bison barrage, NJIT hit well, too. The Highlanders were stifled in the series opener by talented Lipscomb sophomore Brady Puckett and two relievers. Puckett allowed a run in seven innings and struck out 10 Highlanders.
 
The Highlanders had 16 hits, including three doubles and two triples in the 12-11 Game Two loss on Friday and they had 13 hits with four doubles in the loss on Saturday.
 
NJIT left fielder and leadoff hitter Evan Pietronico continued his hot hitting on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBI. He hit two doubles, raising his season total in that department to 19.
 
Pietronico has hit safely in his last nine games, starting with a 3-for-5 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on April 19. He is 15-for-37 (.405) in the hitting streak, with 10 doubles and two home runs. He also has 15 RBI during the streak.
 
For the season, he is batting exactly .300 (second on the team) and his 36 runs batted in are 14 more than the next Highlander, freshman SS Justin Etts, who has 22 after driving four runs on Saturday, while going 2-for-5 with a double. Etts' middle infield partner, sophomore 2B Johnny Malatesta, was 3-for-5, including a double, with 3 RBI.
 
Catcher Cody Kramer was 2-for-4 and drove home a run for the Highlanders, as well.
 
With 22 runs and 20 hits that included five doubles and two home runs, Lipscomb had no shortage of batters with gaudy stats.
 
3B Zeke Dodson, CF Allan Hooker, and SS Hunter Hanks all collected three hits each for Lipscomb. Hanks, who homered twice in Game One on Friday, hit two doubles on Saturday. LF Tevin Symonette and Hooker each hit a double, while C Chucky Vazquez (2-for-4) doubled twice.
The home runs for Lipscomb were hit by DH Cade Sorrells (2-for-3) and RF Von Watson (2-for-4).
 
Sorrells drove in a team-best four runs, while 1B Lee Adam, Dodson, Symonette, and Hooker all collected three runs batted in apiece.
 
There were 10 pitchers used by the two teams, but with 34 runs and 34 hits (10 doubles, two home runs) it shouldn't be a surprise that most of the 10 pitchers had stat lines they'd like to forget.
 
Every one of the first five NJIT pitchers allowed at least two runs. The sixth Highlander to the mound, sophomore Justin Chin, limited Lipscomb to one run on two hits over the final 2.2 innings. The third NJIT pitcher, freshman Chris Gibbons, was tagged with the loss in his first college decision.
 
Lipscomb called on four pitchers and the first two, starter Kyle Kemp and reliever Adam Stewart, were charged with a combined nine runs before the fourth inning was complete.
 
Kyle Weller (2-1) got the win for restoring order over the final five innings, as he limited the visitors to two runs (one earned).
 
NJIT took an early 4-0 lead after scoring a run in the first inning and three more in the second inning. Lipscomb got three runs back in the bottom of the third inning, but the Highlanders had their biggest at-bat of the day when they scored six times in the top of the fourth inning for a 10-3 advantage.
 
However, Lipscomb answered the NJIT six-run top of the fourth with a five-spot of its own in the bottom half, trimming the Highlander cushion to 10-8.
 
The Highlanders scored once in the top of fifth inning for an 11-8 lead, but the Bison plated three in the bottom of the fifth to forge an 11-11 tie.
 
NJIT would manage just one more run the rest of the way and that came in the top of the ninth inning, by which time the Highlanders were down 22-11.
 
In the meantime, Lipscomb poured 10 runs across the plate in a bottom of the sixth inning that saw the Bisons send 14 batters to the plate, with seven hits, including a run-scoring double for Symonette and a Watson's two-run homer the capped the scoring in the inning. The home team added one run in the seventh inning.
 
Etts doubled to drive in two runs and Pietronico doubled for one RBI in NJIT's three-run second inning. In the six-run fourth inning for the Highlanders, Malatesta , RF Matt McKinnon, and 1B Michael Anastasia each walked with the bases loaded to force in a run. Etts singled for two runs and Pietronico drove in a run with a two-out single.
 
Malatesta doubled home a run in the fifth inning and Malatesta's single drove in the Highlander run in the ninth inning.
 
With nine Atlantic Sun games remaining on the 2016 schedule, NJIT is also down to its last two non-conference games, with the first coming on Tuesday, May 3, when the Highlanders travel to Connecticut for a 3:30 pm game at Fairfield.