NASHVILLE (Interstat) — The Lipscomb Bisons held off a late Bellarmine Knights rally Thursday night, winning 5-4 at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium in an ASUN conference matchup.

Bellarmine dropped to 19-28 overall while Lipscomb improved to 22-23. The Bisons grabbed an early lead with three runs in the first inning without a hit, using two hit batsmen, two walks and a fielder’s choice to plate the runs. Brady Miller was hit by a pitch, stole third and scored on Jordan Thomas’s walk. Hutson Miles walked, stole second and scored on Kai Holm’s fielder’s choice. Cam Pruitt, also hit by a pitch, later scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

Lipscomb added a run in the third when Danny Ramirez tripled down the right-field line and scored on Damion Kenealy Jr.’s single up the middle, extending the lead to 4-0. In the fourth, Alejandro Ludeiro singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Pruitt’s single that was helped by an error by Bellarmine center fielder, pushing the margin to 5-0.

Bellarmine’s offense awakened in the fifth. After singles from Cole Huett and Luca Hoerger, Sawyer Pace walked to load the bases. Landon Akers then singled to right field, driving in Hoerger and Huett to cut the deficit to 5-2. AJ Swader followed with a single to left, scoring Pace and bringing the Knights within 5-3.

The Knights pulled within one in the eighth. Luke Scales was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a groundout. Hoerger singled to center field, and Scales scored on the throw, making it 5-4. But Bisons reliever Kaleb Kantola entered and retired Sawyer Pace on a groundout to end the threat.

Bellarmine put the tying run on base in the ninth when Akers walked, but Swader flied into a double play and Jake Bell struck out to end the game.

Lipscomb’s pitching staff combined to limit the Knights despite allowing 10 hits. Bellarmine starter Raygan New settled the game after a rough first inning, but the Knights’ bullpen held Lipscomb to only three hits total. Key defensive plays included a pickoff by reliever Aaron Ragat in the sixth and a double play in the ninth.

Lipscomb’s Adam Jamison, Alexander Llinas and Kaleb Kantola each saw time on the mound for the Bisons, while Bellarmine also used Aaron Ragat in relief.

The victory gave Lipscomb a split of the season series after Bellarmine took two of three games in Louisville earlier this month. The teams meet again Friday and Saturday in Nashville to close the regular season. Bellarmine’s next 10 games include a trip to Louisville and a home series against Eastern Kentucky, while Lipscomb travels to Central Arkansas next week.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Lipscomb 5, Bellarmine 3, and Interstat’s ELO system gave Lipscomb a 71.30 percent probability to win.