After another successful season, Bison baseball didn’t strike out when it comes to off-season accolades.
Rising junior pitcher Brady Puckett was named a Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball on June 2, 2016. Puckett was also named Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year and first team all conference the week before.
Puckett became the first non-freshman Bison to ever earn an All-America nod from Collegiate Baseball.
“What a huge honor this is for him after having such an outstanding season,” Lipscomb Head Coach Jeff Forehand said. “We grow accustomed to what he does when he goes out on the mound, but for others to recognize him as one of the top pitchers in the country is pretty special.”
Puckett was a force in the A-Sun as he tossed his way to a 9-2 record and a 2.93 ERA. In his 15 starts this season, Lipscomb was 13-2 and never lost a decision in eight games.
Puckett was also one of 12 players that started summer ball nearly three weeks removed from the Atlantic Sun Tournament. They will compete in eight wooden bat leagues ranging from Massachusetts, Louisiana and Wisconsin.
Sophomores Michael Gigliotti, Jeffrey Passantino and Pucket will join the top players in the country in the largest amateur baseball league in America since 1885. They are the first Lipscomb players to compete since Hunter Brothers in 2013.
Brady Pucket wasn’t the only Bison to be singled out. Freshman Zeke Dodson was named to the Freshman All-American team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Dodson was the only player from the Atlantic Sun to be honored by the NCBWA.
Dodson played in 56 games and made 51 starts at the corner in his freshman season. He batted .314 with seven doubles, one triple, two home runs and a .422 on-base percentage. He also drove in 44 runs, scored 35 times and drew 33 walks all while collecting 60 hits in his breakout season.
He completed his 2016 campaign with hits in 22 of his last 23 games played.
Teammate Gigliotti earned second team honors on the NCBWA Freshman All-American list in 2015.
Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand is looking for strong summer performances to jump his program to new heights in 2017.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics
Additional reporting by Lipscomb Athletics