by Mark McGee | Feb 22, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Behind record-setting pitching and timely hitting, the Lipscomb baseball team swept a doubleheader from Middle Tennessee 3-2 and 3-1 on Tuesday at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium in Nashville. Game one of the twinbill saw the Lipscomb (3-1) pitchers rack up a school record 16 strikeouts against Middle Tennessee (1-3) led by eight from junior starter Josh Cotham. The righty went five solid innings allowing only one earned run, three hits and a pair of walks. Cotham was joined in the strikeout parade by junior southpaw with a pair and fellow lefty Gil Rehwinkel (1-0), who earned the win on the bump. Rehwinkel tossed the final two and one-thirds innings and fanned six of the seven Blue Raiders he faced to pick up his first career. “When we play a doubleheader, it’s a lot of long baseball,” said Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand. “Nine-inning doubleheaders are long but we need a lot of people to get in and get their innings in. We pitched it pretty good today. “Strikeouts come and we like them but it’s not necessarily how we want to pitch all the time. It just worked out in our favor. We don’t want to go for the strikeout every time. Ground balls are just as easy but the strikeout in the first game was a big part of why we got the victory.” MTSU got a run right out of the gate on a first inning homer by second baseman Jonny Thomas but Lipscomb countered right back in the third when junior centerfielder Ricky Coleman came home on a single...
by Mark McGee | Jan 17, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson told his Bison in his postgame talk that the last play of the game went according to plan. He tried his best not to laugh. Everyone in the dressing room knew that freshman guard Damarius Smith was the last option the way the play was designed…including Damarius. But that didn’t stop him from firing a 3-pointer with three seconds left in overtime to give the Bison a 104-103 Atlantic Sun win over Stetson at Allen Arena Monday night. “Stetson did a good job of taking away what we were trying to do on the play,” Sanderson said. “Damarius did a good of jumping up there and knocking it down. It was a big shot and we needed it. It was nothing but the bottom of the net.” Damarius scored on two points in regulation. With 39 seconds left in overtime he missed a pair of free throws with the score tied at 99-99. Damarius admitted those two missed free throws were not on his mind when he went for the game-winner. “When I was coming down the court I knew Stetson’s defenders were going to fight Jordan Burgason (the first choice for the shot) to the best of their abilities,” Damarius said. “I decided if they were going to double-team him and no one thought I was going to shoot that I was going to shoot it with confidence. “I had missed two tough free throws. I tried to erase that and keep going to the next play. But I believed in myself. I believe my team believes in me. This is a game of...
by Mark McGee | Jan 15, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
One of the primary concerns for the Lipscomb Bison this season has been the ability to rebound. The Bison spent the past week of practice placing an emphasis on board work. But Saturday night at Allen Arena the Bison were outrebounded 53-40 in an 84-80 loss in overtime to Atlantic Sun foe Florida Gulf Coast. The Bison slipped to 8-10 overall, 3-3 in the conference. Florida Gulf Coast is 8-9, 4-3 in the A-Sun. It was only the second win for Florida Gulf Coast on the road. Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson thought that a lack of rebounding hurt the Bison in this game more than any other time this season. In the second half Florida Gulf Coast scored 24 points in the paint, 10 on second chances. “They hurt us on the backboards,” Sanderson said. “They took the shots we wanted them to take, but we just didn’t box out when we were playing a zone defense. It was our emphasis all week and we didn’t do it.” Marvin Williams led the Bison with eight rebounds, a season high. “We are small,” Sanderson said. “We had a hard time keeping them in front of us. That is why we went to the zone.” The Bison trailed 33-29 in the first half. With 9:17 left in the second half the Bison held a 13-point lead at 63-50. Florida Gulf Coast went on an 11-0 scoring run to pull within two points, 63-61, with 3:47 left in regulation. “I never thought we were in control of the game,” Sanderson said. “We are so inconsistent. We will have foolish and silly turnovers...
