by Shawna Mann | May 4, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
It’s been quite the season for the Lady Bisons of the Lipscomb Softball team. With an overall record of 17-28 this season, there can be many aspects to reevaluate which contribute to the team’s performance. Head Coach Kristin Ryman said she notices how even after two years since the start of COVID-19, creating a close team bond can still be a challenge. The pandemic has had the power to shift the way communication and interaction occur, affecting numerous amounts of people. Included in this number is the Lipscomb softball team. This year there are six freshmen, who comprise nearly a quarter of the team. “In a sense we’re playing catch up a little bit this year with still getting to know them,” Ryman said. The team is known for having a few traditions that help build comradery within the group. These include a blind karaoke, sleepover in the locker room and playing hacky sack before games. “That connection piece is huge for us,” Ryman said. Avery Cox, freshman catcher/infielder, said that the culture of Lipscomb softball is unlike any other team she has been on. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or if you’re a senior,” Cox said. “Everyone’s happy for you when you get your chance.” With the bond rebuilding underway, players like Cox should begin to see how it will transform how the team plays together. The team’s conference record sits at 7-11. The ASUN tournament will take place May 11-14 in Jacksonville, Florida. Photo via Lipscomb...
by Danny Kotula | Apr 20, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky – The Lipscomb softball team lost 5-0 to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Tuesday evening at WKU Softball Field in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Suffocating pitching from the home team kept Lipscomb off the board all night, as WKU’s two pitchers both came into the game sporting ERAs under 3.0. “They’re good, both of them,” Lipscomb head coach Kristin Ryman said. “They’ve got a couple of other pitchers, but they ride those two, and they do it for a reason because they’re really good.” Juniors Kyndall Crawford and Kaitlin Woodside were the only batters to register hits, as Lipscomb only managed an 8.7% success rate at the plate. “We knew we’d be challenged offensively,” Ryman said. “We’re still that young-mentality offense; we’re still learning a lot about approach and adjustments.” Titusville, Florida-born junior Emily Yakubowski took the loss on the day, pitching 3.2 innings and giving up all five runs on six hits. Yakubowski drops to 2-6 on the year despite throwing six strikeouts and just three walks. After starting the fourth inning, Yakubowski was replaced by redshirt freshman Laine Barefoot of Eden, North Carolina. Barefoot only registered one strikeout but was able to keep her opponents scoreless the rest of the way. “Pitching wise, I thought we did some great things,” Ryman said. “Emily Yakubowski gives up the four earned [runs] and six hits, but quite frankly, I thought she did a great job with the six strikeouts. They had some clutch hits in moments where they had runners on.” “We’re trying to get more consistency out of our pitchers, and I thought that was a step...
by Danny Kotula | Apr 16, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb softball team lost a tight contest Saturday afternoon 6-5 to drop the weekend series against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. After the teams split the Friday doubleheader, the Gamecocks finished off the weekend with a win thanks to a five-run performance in the third inning. “A lot of times, it comes down to execution,” Lipscomb head coach Kristin Ryman said. “We gave ourselves chances in all three games… I think it’s one of those things where we just came up a bit short today.” Lipscomb led early behind strong pitching from freshman Kate Peters of Dickson, Tennessee. Peters picked up two no-hit innings to start the game, while senior Amy Vetula, senior Jessie Brown, and junior Presley Leebrick all picked up RBIs to give Lipscomb a 3-0 advantage after two innings. All that changed in the top of the third, when a three-RBI double and a two-run home run brought JSU to a 5-0 lead. Peters was replaced by Mariyn Waterman, who got the Bisons out of the third inning and kept a clean sheet in the fourth. Lipscomb picked up two runs in the fourth to tie things up at five apiece, but they were unable to draw up any more offense the rest of the way through. A single RBI in the top of the sixth put the Gamecocks up for good at 6-5 and gave them the edge for the weekend. With the victory, JSU improves to 9-6 in the ASUN Conference. Lipscomb drops to 6-9 with a 16-25 overall record on the season. “We’re still working through a lot of things, but...
by Danny Kotula | Apr 13, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb baseball team lost to the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders 7-0 Tuesday night at Dugan Field. “We did some good things,” Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand said, “and I told the team that we didn’t play bad, but I didn’t think we played good either. Anytime you play average, you’ve got to hope the other team helps you, and they didn’t tonight,” Forehand said. Despite the loss, Lipscomb split the season series against Middle Tennessee this season. After the victory, Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series at 22-20. Offensively, senior Malik Williams had the best batting record of the day for the Purple and Gold. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Williams went 1-3 with a strikeout, a walk, a single, and a fly out. Williams’ .370 batting average led the team entering the contest. Sophomore pitcher Kaleb Kantola started for the Bisons and earned the victory, improving his season record to 2-3 on the season. Kantola picked up four strikeouts facing 12 batters but only managed a 6.46 ERA. A native of Monmouth, Oregon, Kantola commanded the mound early on, retiring the Blue Raiders three up, three down. Soon after, though, the Raiders went up 1-0 on a home run, scoring on the first pitch of the second inning. Before the inning was done, Middle Tennessee came up with another solo homer. A second straight hit beat the fence in left field and put the score at 2-0. Meanwhile, offense was tough sledding for Lipscomb early. A scoreless first inning gave way to a similar second, although the Bisons did collect a single and a double...
by Danny Kotula | Apr 12, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
Sports have been present in freshman Lauren Thompson’s life for as long as she can remember. “My family was really big into athletics,” Thompson said. “My brother played college baseball, my dad played college baseball, so we were always in the front yard playing anything we could pick up.” While most of the Thompson family settled on baseball, though, Lauren was quickly drawn to another sport. “I played a lot of sports growing up, and I ended up getting into golf. There’s just something different about it. I love the creativity you have to have just out on the course, and I fell in love with the game. “I dropped everything when I was about 12 and decided that golf was going to be something I wanted to stick with and work towards.” Already, it seems as though Thompson’s focus on golf has paid off. In just a single year at Lipscomb, the Dothan, Alabama-bred freshman has shattered multiple school records as a Bison. Thompson immediately led the team by posting the all-time low score in 54 holes by a Lipscomb women’s golfer. She shot a four-under 209 to finish second overall and help Lipscomb to fourth in the first event of the season. “It was kind of surreal. I don’t think anybody comes in thinking they’re going to play that well immediately, [but] I walk in and I’m like, ‘Alright, this is college golf.'” “Thanks to my team and my coaches for making me feel so comfortable welcome here; that’s a huge part of why I think I’ve been able to be successful, especially right off the bat....
by Danny Kotula | Apr 3, 2022 | News Slider, Sports, Uncategorized
NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb women’s tennis team lost 5-2 to the North Florida Ospreys at Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center Sunday morning. With the win, UNF continues a perfect all-time record against the Bisons. Despite the loss, senior Kate Popova had a fine day at the office with a momentous singles win against ITA-ranked Kit Guliher. Ranked as high as 32nd in the ITA singles ranking and as high as ninth in doubles in her career, Guliher was unable to keep up with Lipscomb’s number one. “Kate’s been a great player,” Lipscomb head coach Jamie Aid said. “She’s played at the national level. So honestly, it was nice to see Kate today being in Kate’s element where she was stepping on the line, she wasn’t afraid to go to balls. It was nice to see Kate being out there and enjoying it and hitting it like she was today.” The morning started with a difficult doubles stretch, though, with the Bisons consistently losing momentum in key moments across all three matches. The top pairing, made up of Popova and Sasha Dobranos, going up against strong opposition, were held scoreless in a 6-0 loss. On court two, seniors Maddox Bandy and Eleanor Chapman lost 6-2 just moments after. Senior Liza Diachenko and junior Anja Trbeznik fought back from an early 3-0 deficit to keep their game alive the longest at 5-2. In singles, Lipscomb battled and kept things much more competitive. Popova found herself locked into the best match of the day, one that flip-flopped but saw the Ukrainian take a 6-4 win in set one. Court two saw an early lead...
