by Allison Woods | Jun 30, 2010 | Sports
Vanderbilt left-hander Richie Goodenow has decided to take the mound for Lipscomb University during his final year of college eligibility. Goodenow, a former standout at Nashville’s John Overton High School, is transferring and will enroll in graduate school at Lipscomb, according to Bisons’ baseball coach Jeff Forehand. “Lipscomb was one of my top choices,” Goodenow said. “It is a real good school. It is close to home. It has a good baseball program. It is a good opportunity for me to come here.” Used primarily as a reliever in his career with the Commodores, Goodenow will be given a chance to earn a spot in the weekend pitching rotation as a starter, according to Forehand. “I’m excited about the opportunity,” Goodenow said. “It is something I will work for. I just want to help out the team any way I can. “I think I am a real good teammate. I am going to compete in any circumstances. My best pitch is my slider.” Goodenow, 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, started one time in 31 appearances for the Commodores last season. But that lone start, only the second of his college career, was against Louisville in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Expected to give the Commodores three or four innings of pitching, Goodenow threw a complete game, allowing only two hits on the way to a 7-0 shutout. It was his longest outing of the season eclipsing his 4.2 innings of relief work against Oklahoma State Feb. 28. The win kept the Commodores postseason drive alive for another day. They would beat Louisville one more time and advance to the Super Regional. Based on...
by Allison Woods | Jun 21, 2010 | Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons soccer team better be in shape and ready to kick this season. There are no breathers in the 2010 schedule which begins on the road at Louisville, a prelude of the difficulty of the remaining games on the schedule. “It’s a pretty tough schedule early on,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said. “We will be tested early. “The players have to get themselves prepared over the summer. The guys know if they come in and they haven’t been playing and training at a high level they are not going to be in the mix that first weekend. Guys that play well that first weekend are more likely to get some playing time the second weekend.” On Aug. 21, approximately a week after the Bisons return to campus for preseason workouts, they will be on the road at Louisville. The next week, Aug. 28, they will play another exhibition game with a visit to Georgia State in Atlanta. “We played Louisville in an exhibition game last season and the year before we played them in the regular season,” Morrow said. “They are good a team and they are only three hours away. “They enjoy playing us. They get something out of it. We will have only been in preseason for about a week before we play them.” The regular season opens with one of the biggest challenges of the season. The Bisons will be in Dallas, Texas Sept. 4 to play host Southern Methodist, a perennial collegiate power, in the first round of the SMU Invitational. The second round game won’t be any easier as the Bisons will face Tulsa Sept. 6. “That will be a tough opening weekend,” Morrow said. “SMU is a talented team....
by Allison Woods | May 27, 2010 | Sports
Lipscomb senior infielder Kellie Sirus was named a First Team selection to the 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Softball Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Sirus, a psychology major from Sarasota, Fla., posted a 3.92 grade point average. This was the second year in a row Sirus has been named a First Team Academic All-America. She is the first Lipscomb athlete to accomplish this feat since the school became a part of the NCAA. Both Sirus, and senior center fielder Lauren Dortwegt, earned First Team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA District IV honors. District IV includes Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio and Michigan. The award honors both athletic and academic achievements. Sirus was one of the top offensive players in the Atlantic Sun Conference this past season. She was named MVP of the Atlantic Sun Tournament and was also named to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference First Team. The Lady Bisons finished with a 50-13 record, including a berth in the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the regional final to top-seeded Alabama. To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports. Written by Mark McGee, senior publisher/director of Media Relations. See more stories at...
by Hunter Patterson | May 25, 2010 | Sports
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There were tears. Lots of tears. Hugs abounded. There was a prayer circle and one last speech from Lipscomb Lady Bisons’ coach Kristin Ryman. And before they left the field Sunday at the Alabama Softball Complex there also were some smiles. The Lady Bisons didn’t win the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, but they advanced to the finals, losing to Alabama’s Crimson Tide 6-0 in front of more than 2,100 fans. It was the first trip to an NCAA Regional for the Lipscomb softball team, which won both the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and tournament titles. “Overall, I am extremely proud of our team with the fight and the resiliency they have shown all weekend,” Ryman said. “This is the closest any Lipscomb softball team has ever been, and I think that is in large part due to our seniors and what they have done in leading this team. “I don’t think we ever came into this postseason wanting to just be happy to be here. I think we came in wanting to win it. We knew that was going to be an extremely tough task, but that’s what we were here for. These girls never stopped from an effort standpoint and I couldn’t be more proud of them.” In the Saturday, May 22, 5-2 win over the Lady Bisons, Alabama relied on bunts and infield hits to produce runs. The next day home runs made the difference with four of the six runs coming off of three home runs. “They beat us with their short game Saturday and today they came out and relied on the long ball,”...
by Hunter Patterson | May 25, 2010 | Sports
MACON, Ga. – The Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. at Dugan Field at Marsh Stadium on the campus of Lipscomb University. FGCU enters the championship as the No. 1 seed after claiming it third consecutive A-Sun regular season title. The Eagles open the A-Sun Championship at 11:00 a.m. CT Wednesday against in-state rival Stetson. The Eagles feature one of the top pitchers in the country in left hander Chris Sale. Sale, a junior, enters the week leading the conference in wins, ERA and strikeouts. The Lakeland, Fla. native sits as the national leader in strikeouts and a candidate for several national awards including the National Pitcher of the Year and Golden Spikes Awards, given to nation’s top player. Sale sits eighth in the conference single season record books in strikeouts with 135, the most by an A-Sun pitcher since Justin Pope of UCF sat down 158 in 2001, while his ERA ranks T-13th best. The Eagles own the conference’s top team ERA by nearly a half run, while boasting a balanced offense with all but one starter featuring a batting average over .300. Mikel Alvarez leads the Eagles in batting average with a .398 mark. Tim Roberson and Zach Maxfield provide the power in the FGCU lineup with the pair each having reached double figures in home runs and collecting at least 56 RBIs. The balance helped the Eagles finish seven and half games clear of the A-Sun field in the regular season standings. While FGCU claimed the A-Sun regular season title two weeks ago, Stetson needed a win in the final game of...
by Hunter Patterson | May 22, 2010 | News Slider, Sports
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. _ Caroline Mason’s two-out ground ball single down the left field line scored Mollie Mitchell with the game-winning run in the ninth inning in a 7-6 extra inning win over UAB Saturday night. It was the second game of the day for both teams. The Lady Bisons had lost 5-2 to Alabama to open a blistering hot day at the Alabama Softball Complex in the second day of the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. UAB beat Alcorn State 9-0 in six innings to eliminate the Lady Braves from the regional. They had approximately 30 minutes to get ready to face the Lady Bisons. The Lady Bisons raised their record to 50-12, a new all-time program high for wins in a season. The old mark of 49 was set in the NAIA era in 1997. It was only the third extra innings game of the season for the Lady Bisons. The Lady Bisons are unbeaten in extra innings games. The Lady Bisons will have a rematch with top-seed Alabama Sunday at 1:30. If the Lady Bisons win that game the two teams will meet again at 4 with the winner advancing to a Super Regional. Friday night the Lady Bisons beat UAB 4-1 to open the regional. The Lady Bisons are 3-1 against the Blazers this season. In the first inning the Lady Bisons scored one run. Courtney Billington singled to left field to bring home Kellie Sirus who had reached base on a two-out double that bounce off the lower left field wall. In the third the Lady Bisons struck for four runs. Lauren Dortwegt opened with a single...
