Senior Josh Lee made his way back to where his college baseball career began when he provided the firepower to lift the Bisons past his former team, No. 1 Vanderbilt, Tuesday night.
Lee drove in three runs for the Lipscomb baseball team to help guide them to a 3-1 win at Hawkins Field.
Before coming to Lipscomb, Lee was recruited by Vandy and played three games for the Commodores his freshman year. In 2013, he transferred to Central Arizona Community College before landing at Lipscomb his junior year.
“Once I got on Lipscomb’s campus last year I knew this was home for me,” Lee said. “It’s where I was meant to be.”
Lee said that although Vandy was not the right fit for him, he enjoyed building relationships with the coaches and players there.
Although brief, his experience there helped him prepare for this game.
“It was definitely a different feeling [playing on Hawkins Field] than any other game we have had, but it’s a place I was very familiar with, so I knew what to expect in terms of the crowd and how the field was going to play and what I was going to get from the opposing team,” Lee said.
Lee said he followed the advice of his father when he stepped up to the plate.
“I didn’t want to make the moment too big,” Lee said. “That’s what my dad always told me to do — just relax, have fun, see the ball, hit it gap to gap and just have that in the back of my mind.”
Tuesday night, Lee batted in runs in the first and sixth innings before he brought the Bisons home with an RBI infield single in the eigth inning. He said that Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand helped drive the team to create their own opportunities to score.
“He [Forehand] just reiterated that playing a No. 1 team, they’re not going to give us any mistakes,” Lee said.
Along with Lee, there was a strong showing on the mound by freshman hurler Brady Puckett, who allowed just one run on five hits and struck out a career-high six batters. Puckett, who threw 107 pitches in the outing, improved his personal record to 2-1 for the season.
Vandy was the second No. 1 team for Lipscomb to take down in the program’s NCAA era. The previous victory over No. 1 also was against Vanderbilt, in a game played at Lipscomb in 2007.
The defending national champion ‘Dores had their lowest run total in 29 games and their first weekday loss this season.
Lee said he was happy to have the opportunity to play back on Hawkins Field. This game marked the Bisons’ second win at Hawkins Field in program history.
“I’m blessed that God led me to this amazing campus with these amazing coaches, players and staff,” Lee said.
Lipscomb will return home this weekend to take on North Florida in a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series.
Story by Charlie Bateman and Erin Turner
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics