by KJ Lauck | Mar 7, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons (11-9) softball team went 2-2 in this weekend’s Purple and Gold Challenge. The five team round robin-style tournament was played at Draper Diamond and featured Youngstown State, Indiana State, Furman, and Troy. The first game was Friday night against the Furman Paladins (9-11). Senior Tanner Sanders started the game in the circle for Lipscomb. The first hit of the game was a first pitch, lead-off home run from Furman’s Candace Johnson, to give the Paladins an early 1-0 lead. “Anytime you start the game with first pitch, first hit home run it’s going to give your team [Furman] a lot of confidence,” head coach Kristin Ryman said. But the Lady Bisons fought back to tie it late, as sophomore Abbey Fenichel’s sacrifice fly scored Destinee Brewer and tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. The Paladins took advantage of a bases loaded opportunity in the opening frame of the eighth as AnnaRose Borrelli hit a grand slam off of Sanders (5-4) to give Furman the lead for good. The Lady Bisons salvaged one run in the bottom of the eighth but ultimately fell 7-3. “Credit their hitters, they’re up there hacking away and battling counts, making her [Sanders] throw a lot of pitches,” Ryman said. Senior pitcher Kelly Young got the nod in Lipscomb’s second game of the challenge against Troy Saturday. Freshman Sarah Higgins did her part to help out Young by hitting her fifth home run of the year in the third inning to give Lipscomb the only lead it needed. Young pitched a complete game shutout on the way to her third win...
by Charlie Bateman | Mar 7, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb baseball team defeated Alabama A&M 5-4, 14-5 and 10-3 to extend record to 9-3 for the season. In the first game, the Bisons defeated the Bulldogs 5-4. The Bulldogs were down 5-1 going into the ninth and scored three consecutive runs at the top of the inning. Junior Dalton Curtis stopped the rally to pick up his fourth save of the season. The Bisons beat the Bulldogs 14-5 in the second game and a grand slam from freshman Tevin Symonette was part of a six run streak during the third inning. This was the second homerun in two games for Symonette. “He works hard at take advantage of good pitches to hit at the plate,” head baseball coach Jeff Forehand. “I don’t think he intentionally goes up to the plate looking for a homerun, but he has put some good swings at the plate, which has led to being able to hit the ball over the wall.” Lipscomb continued its scoring streak by earning ten runs in the final game and winning 10-3. “I think it is always a combination of being good at bat and getting the count in your favor,” Forehand said. “We were able to take advantage of some opportunities, but I felt like we missed out on some others.” For sophomore pitcher Brady Puckett, this was his third win of the season. Puckett is tied with sophomore Jeffrey Passantino for most wins scored by a starting pitcher. “I think the key for him has been the eight strikeouts and no walks,” Forehand said. “When you are not walking guys, you give yourself the opportunity to have a lot of success.”...
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 Charlie Bateman | Mar 4, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team fell in Atlantic Sun semifinal 96-75 to Stetson Thursday night in Allen Arena. The Bisons had trouble from the free throw line in the first half, as they shot 33 percent from the field. The leading scorer for Lipscomb in the first half was sophomore George Brammeier with nine points. Freshman Garrison Mathews lead all scorers with 27 points — a career high for him on the year. “I went through a six or seven game slump were it was just hard for me to make three pointers, but thanks to my coaches I was able to break out of it this season,” Mathews said. “I cannot wait to get back and continue to get some work on my three-point shot in the offseason.” Stetson had an impressive shooting display, scoring 44 points in the first half. The leading scorer for the Hatters in the first half was Derick Newton with 12 points. Newton finished with 25 points, which led Stetson for the entire game. Newton was one of four players in double figures for the Hatters. Stetson finished the game as a team scoring 96 points. “We did not have a great game,” said Casey Alexander, Lipscomb men’s head basketball coach. “I have to give credit to Stetson, though — they played a lot better than we did tonight. We never got in a defensive rhythm and they were able to take advantage of it.” Lipscomb finished the season at 12-21 with a 7-7 record in the conference. “I am a little disappointed the way we played this season,” Alexander said. “I feel like this...
by KJ Lauck | Mar 3, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons welcomed the Cardinals from Louisville for a doubleheader home-opener at Draper Diamond. Lipscomb split the series with a 2-1 win in the first game and a 7-1 loss in the second. Senior Tanner Sanders took the circle for Lipscomb’s first game of the doubleheader against Louisville. Senior Brittany Elmore got things started for the Lady Bisons early, getting on base from the lead-off spot. She scored the first run of the game via an RBI from sophomore Caitlin Plocheck, giving Lipscomb a 1-0 lead in the first inning. “We’ve been really focusing on being in attack mode, and I thought we did that from the very beginning of the game,” head coach Kristin Ryman said. The second run for the Lady Bisons came in the third inning as Elmore knocked in freshman Khayla Green for a 2-0 Lipscomb lead. Brittany Sims hit a stand-up double to start the sixth for Louisville. She advanced to third base and scored on a fielder’s choice, cutting the lead to 2-1. But Sanders (5-3) shut the door on the Louisville rally, and finished her complete game to secure the 2-1 win for the Lady Bisons. Freshman Mandy Jordan pitched the second game of the doubleheader for Lipscomb. It was her first home start for the Lady Bisons. Freshman Sarah Higgins hit a solo home run in the second inning to give the Lady Bisons an early 1-0 lead. Hailey Smith crushed a solo home-run for Louisville in the fifth to tie the game 1-1. The Cardinals kept hitting and tacked on three more runs in the inning, to make it 4-1....
by Brittnay Estes | Mar 2, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Despite the two hour and forty minute weather delay, the Lipscomb baseball team picked up a 6-1 victory over Middle Tennessee State University on Tuesday night at Ken Dugan field. Freshman Adam Stewart from Homewood, Alabama made his first career start Tuesday night. Stewart pitched five innings and struck out seven batters. He allowed four hits, two walks and one run. “For Stewart’s first start as a freshman, I just can’t be more proud of him,” head coach Jeff Forehand said. “He commanded the game from the start and it was just fun to watch.” Middle Tennessee’s Jack Wyrick started on the mound for the Raider’s. Wyrick struck out six out of the first seven batters. The Bisons got on the board in the bottom of the third, after two walks. Freshman Von Watson hit a single up the middle to score two. Watson finished the night leading the Bisons 2-4 with three RBIs. “Von is getting pitched pretty tough and MTSU’s guy today was pretty good to start off,” Forehand said. “To get that big hit right there with two outs to break the ice in the scoring, it put us in a spot where we can breathe a little bit and Stewart can get into his rhythm.” In the top of the fifth, Middle Tennessee rallied with a double scored by Chaz Vesser, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Bisons. “We had a mistake on the double where we threw a ball wide into the dugout that cost us a run, but just a solid start for Stewart’s first outing.” Forehand said. Freshman Tevin Symonette scored in the bottom...
