by Todd Lamberth | Mar 30, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
After scoring 34 runs over the weekend, the Lipscomb baseball team continued with a 12-4 win against Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday. Lipscomb (16-9) fell behind early before senior Adam Lee connected for a three-run homerun in the third inning to jumpstart the offense. The Bisons went on to score five more runs in the inning and take a 9-3 lead. After freshman Alex Dorso gave up three runs in three innings during his first career start, classmate Adam Stewart entered the game, allowing just one run in five innings. While head coach Jeff Forehand was pleased with the offensive performance from his team, he was quick to point out the job by his pitching staff. “It’s fun to see us put up double-digit runs,” Forehand said. “But the thing about tonight was the guys on the mound, the bullpen, was good. They gave us a chance to come back like that after we went down.” The Bison pitching staff was aided by five double plays. The offensive display along with the defensive effort is the kind of all-around play Forehand wants to see from his guys. “It all goes together,” Forehand said. “We turned five double plays tonight and those are always big momentum swings, not just for the defense but for the offense when we come in.” After stealing a program record five bases on Sunday, sophomore Lee Solomon took three more bases on Tuesday to bring his season total to 20, good for top-10 in the nation. Solomon also went a perfect 4-4 from the plate with three RBIs. “Last few games we’ve expected him to get a hit and steal a base, which seems like it’s...
by Todd Lamberth | Mar 24, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
After giving up three runs in the first inning, the Lady Bison softball team rallied in the seventh inning to beat rival Belmont 4-3 on Wednesday. Ahead 3-2 in the seventh with runners on the corners and two outs, Belmont’s Ashley Johnson threw freshman Khayla Green, allowing her to tie the game. After sophomore Abby Finichel walked, freshman Sarah Higgins stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs. Facing a full count, Higgins shot her next pitch to center field to drive in junior Kasey Gibson and give the Lady Bisons the 4-3 win. “She (Higgins) had a rough game tonight and she’ll be the first to tell you that,” Lipscomb head coach Kristin Ryman said. “I thought for her to have as rough of a game as she did, at the end she honed back in a found a good pitch to hit.” Despite the win, Ryman was not pleased with what she saw from her team most of the game. “We escaped,” Ryman said. “Honestly, I feel like we got outplayed. Sure we’re happy with the win. Some tough lessons learned through that game. We can’t take pitches off and tonight we took several innings off.” Lipscomb (15-15) senior pitcher Kelly Young was able to settle down after allowing three Bruins to cross the plate in the first inning. Young hit her first batter and walked the second before Belmont’s Lexi Rouse took her first pitch over the left field wall to give her team a 3-0 lead. “Obviously, the tone wasn’t set from the get-go. You never want to give up three runs off the...
by Todd Lamberth | Mar 5, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s basketball season ended on Friday with a 80-51 loss at Jacksonville in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Tournament. The Lady Bisons (5-25) entered the matchup as the seventh seed in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament where they met seconded seeded Jacksonville. The Lady Bisons were able to keep the game within single-digits in the first half, trailing by just nine points at halftime. The Dolphins turned it on in the second half, outscoring Lipscomb 43-23. “We knew we were capable of playing with anybody in the conference,” head coach Greg Brown said. “It’s the sustaining of it that we really have to work on. Knowing that, I didn’t have to tell them anything to fire them up before the game. They were ready.” Second chance points proved to play a big factor in the Dolphin win as they converted their 16 offensive rebounds into 28 points. The Lady Bisons were also able to grab 16 offensive rebounds but only managed to turn theirs into two points. Senior Ashley Southern led the Lady Bisons off the bench, nearly picking up a double-double in her final game in a Lipscomb uniform with 14 points and nine rebounds. Alex Banks was the only other Lady Bison to reach double figures, contributing 12 points in the loss. The rest of the Lady Bisons struggled from the field, however, shooting just 27 percent on 61 shots. They were unable to find their range from behind the arc as well, hitting just four 3-pointers. “I thought our effort was great. I thought our execution was good for the most part; we...
by Todd Lamberth | Feb 21, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Despite dropping the season opener 13-7, the Bisons bounced back to take the series against the Colonels with a 4-2 win on Saturday and a 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Ken Dugan Field. Eastern Kentucky took the game on opening day with 20 runs scored and two homeruns. The Colonels jumped out to a 4-0 lead, including a three run first inning, before the Bisons could get their offense going in the fourth inning. Lipscomb was able to tie the score at 4-4 by the end of the fifth inning. Eastern Kentucky took an 8-7 lead into the ninth inning. The Colonels extended the lead to two runs before a grand slam put the score at 13-8, a deficit the Bisons could not overcome. Despite the loss, Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand was pleased with the offensive output he saw. “It goes without saying that we are obviously disappointed with the loss, but I think we have a chance to be really dynamic offensively,” Forehand said. “It’s hard to win games when you give up double-digit runs.” On Saturday, sophomore pitcher Jeffrey Passantino stifled the Eastern Kentucky hitters. Passantino finished his first start of the new season after seven strong innings. On his way to a 4-2 win, Passantino allowed seven hits and one run while striking out seven Colonels and not walking any. “Jeff had a great game on the mound. You don’t really realize it as the game is going on, but when you look at the stats and see his numbers, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Forehand said. The Bisons were boosted on offense by their three, four and...
by Todd Lamberth | Feb 2, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) will bring the Nashville Tennis Classic to Allen Arena this Saturday, where a special tennis court will be placed on the basketball floor. John Isner and Sam Querrey will kick off the event at 3 p.m. with a singles match. Isner is currently ranked No. 12 in the world while Querrey has reached No. 17 during his career. Following that match, Isner and Querrey will team up to face the Bryan brothers for a doubles match. Mike and Bob Bryan are the most decorated doubles team in the world with a record sixteen Grand Slam titles. The event comes to Nashville as United States tennis prepares for the Summer Olympics in Rio and the Davis Cup, the top team tournament for men’s international tennis. “USTA Tennessee is thrilled to support the Nashville Tennis Classic and honored to host members of the U.S. Davis Cup Team in our city,” said Tracy Davies, Executive Director of USTA Tennessee. “Nashville is a vibrant tennis community and bringing role models of this caliber to Tennessee will have a tremendous impact on the future growth of our sport.” With the U.S. tennis players coming into Nashville, Lipscomb men’s tennis will be leaving the city. The Bisons travel to play Georgia State and Alabama over the weekend. While they won’t be on campus, head coach Mario Hernandez said he is excited to have the event at Lipscomb. Hernandez said he hopes the event will help grow the sport and its popularity in the area and the school. “Having the best doubles team ever and the top American pro tennis players on...
