by Grant Ledgister | May 22, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Due to the academic successes of its athletes, all of Lipscomb’s sports programs have escaped classroom-related penalties from the NCAA for the 12th straight year. The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a system put in place by the NCAA to help measure whether Division I schools are ensuring their student-athletes are doing well academically. First enforced in 2003, APR is a statistic that tracks the “eligibility” and “retention” of athletic programs and their athletes nationwide. APR is calculated by giving one point per student-athlete in a given athletic program that is receiving financial aid for athletics, and another point if those students remain above the mandated academic thresholds. These points are added up, then divided by points possible, and finally multiplied by 1,000 to get the program’s total APR score. Programs with low APR scores will be penalized, with the first penalty being a limitation on practice time (16 hours over five days instead of 20 over 6). The NCAA also averages out the APR scores from the past four years to see if the program meets the minimum 930 standards it has set, and if the program does not, it is in danger of receiving a ban from participation in championship games. “It correlates an athlete’s ability to do the coursework,” said Lipscomb Athletic Director Philip Hutcheson. “A system that has some standards as opposed to not having any is probably the better approach,” In a year that saw 12 programs across 20 schools receive penalties, all of Lipscomb’s programs received scores high enough to avoid the one of their own. Men’s and women’s golf received the highest...
by Mckenzi Harris | May 20, 2019 | News Slider, Sports, Student Spotlight
Jesica Beaty, a former sports writer for Lumination, now has a new beat: Major League Baseball wife. Beaty, a 2015 journalism and new media alumna, married her high school sweetheart and Belmont alum Matt Beaty. Matt played baseball for the Bruins and for the last few years has made his way up through the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor-league organization. Jesica and Matt have been married for two and a half years. After the two got married, Jesica left her full-time job as a managing editor with The Aransas Pass (Texas) Progress and Ingleside Index to follow Matt. The couple has moved around quite a bit. Currently, the Beatys reside in Oklahoma, home of the Triple A Oklahoma City Dodgers. Matt was drafted by the Dodgers in 2015 and has played in the Rookie, Single A, Double A and Triple A leagues. Matt was added to the Dodgers’ 40-man lineup back in November. This year the Dodgers used one of his options and sent him to the minor league during spring training; this allows him to be called up and down at any time this year. Matt was called up by the Dodgers earlier this month for a game against the San Francisco Giants. “It was about 12:30 at night, and the Triple A manager called Matt,” Jesica said. “I was so excited for him and just so excited it was finally happening.” During that game, in his first at-bat in the major leagues, he got a hit and his first RBI. He was then recalled and brought back down to Oklahoma City Dodgers. Last week, Matt was called back up...
by Grant Ledgister | May 19, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb was eliminated from the NCAA Tuscaloosa regional tournament Saturday by falling 10-1 to Arizona State. It was the second loss to Arizona State, which dropped Lipscomb into the losers’ bracket by winning 4-3 Friday. The Lady Bisons played two games Saturday, both games cut short due to the run rule, but only the first one — a victory over Alabama State — came out in Lipscomb’s favor, with a 14-0 lead after five innings enough to send the Lady Hornets packing. The scoring started early in the first elimination game Saturday against Alabama State. In the second inning, Sarah Higgins was walked, advanced to third off of a Jordan Fortel grounder that got popped into the air, and then scored on the next batter. Khayla Green then hit a single to drive Fortel to third, and with a bases-loaded walk, two batters later scored her. Alabama State then made a pitching change, but it didn’t help things for the Lady Hornets. A grounder from Graysen Gladden scored two to make it 4-0. Peyton Ward hit a line drive over a third that bounced off the wall. The hit scored two runners to make the score 6-0. A couple of batters later, the bases were loaded again. Jenna Pealor hit a grand slam, her eighth home run of the season, that increased the Lady Bisons’ lead to 10-0. Lipscomb added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the game ended in the top of the next inning due to the run-ahead rule. The win set up a rematch with Arizona State University, which lost to...
by Grant Ledgister | May 19, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons made it close but ultimately couldn’t overcome the Arizona State Sun Devils, losing 4-3 in the opening round of the Tuscaloosa Regional tournament and road to the Women’s College World Series. Lipscomb fell to Arizona State, a team with a high-powered offense, solid pitching, and strong defense. Pitching and the outfield were the most important aspects of the game for either team through the first two innings. In the first inning, Lipscomb’s first two batters struck out before a popout ended the inning. Amy Vetula was able to record all three of the outs for Lipscomb’s defense. In the second inning, things play balanced out. Arizona State’s defense got two of the three outs (including a barehanded catch and throw from Jade Gortarez to first), while Lipscomb’s Mandy Jordan earned a strikeout and Destinee Brewer chased down a long shot to end the inning. Cielo Meza struck out four through four innings of play for the Sun Devils and only allowed two runners to reach base. A Sarah Higgins double followed by a home run from Jenna Pealor put the Lady Bisons up 2-0 in the fourth inning. The Sun Devils would respond quickly. Kindra Hackbarth hit a double in the bottom of the same inning. Two batters later, Gortarez hit an RBI single that cut Lipscomb’s lead to one and cut its momentum. Lipscomb had a chance to extend the lead in the fifth inning but couldn’t capitalize on it. A tag-out at second and a foul-out ended any chance of the Lady Bisons scoring in the fifth. Arizona State has the third-ranked offense in...
by Erika Plunkett | May 13, 2019 | Galleries, Sports
Surrounded by family, friends, and Bison faithful in the Allen Arena Hall of Fame room, the Lipscomb softball team learned their next stop is Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as pairings were announced during the NCAA Softball Tournament Selection Show. Lipscomb drew the Tuscaloosa regional, hosted by the SEC regular-season champion and overall eight-seed, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Lady Bisons will open the regional against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Also, included in the Tuscaloosa regional are the Alabama State Hornets. “This is a hard regional,” coach Kristin Ryman said. “This [Arizona State] is a tough team. But I don’t care. We are too.” After winning 22 of their last 24 games, Lipscomb won the ASUN championship and earned an automatic berth into the NCAA softball tournament. The first round of the tournament, which is set to begin May 17-19, is divided into 16 regional campus sites with four teams at each location. The four teams will play a double elimination tournament to determine who advances to the super-regional round the following weekend. Philip Hutcheson, Lipscomb’s athletic director, praised this team and their coaches for an incredibly exciting season, mentioning how fun it has been to watch them this year. ASUN Coach of the Year Ryman talked about how “connected” her team has been all season, attributing their success to this chemistry. The first game is set to be played at 3 p.m. Friday and can be streamed via ESPN+....
by Erika Plunkett | May 12, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Power forward Luke Howard, a 2019 Tennessee Mr. Basketball award finalist, Sunday officially signed his letter of intent to play basketball at Lipscomb.Harding Academy’s boys basketball coach Kevin Starks expressed his excitement for Howard’s decision to come to Lipscomb. “I think he is really just scratching the surface of how good he can be,” Starks said. “I am excited for him to be with the coaching staff at Lipscomb, because I think they will help him grow and reach his potential.” The Harding Academy senior also received offers from Lincoln Memorial University, Drake University, the University of Texas at Arlington, Marist College, Campbell University, Kent State University and Troy University. Starks said that Howard’s versatility, athleticism, and hard work will take him far. “I think Luke’s potential is off the charts,” Starks said. “I believe that he has the chance to be an all-league player and to play basketball after college.“ Howard, originally from Vancouver, Canada, moved to Memphis two years ago and began playing basketball under Starks during the 2017-2018 season. Even given his short time at Harding Academy, Starks said that Howard was able to fit right in. He was one of the senior leaders for Harding Academy this year, averaging 23.8 points per game, eight rebounds per game, 62 percent field-goal shooting, 34 percent three-point shooting, 70 percent free-throw shooting, 1.8 assists per game, and 1.3 steals per game. “Luke is a 6-foot-9, athletic four man that can really, really shoot,” Starks said. “Because of his skill level, his upside is just tremendous.” Howard served a number of different roles for the Lions with the ability...
