When Lipscomb’s baseball team takes on Vanderbilt in the NCAA regionals Friday evening, coach Jeff Forehand will be just beginning his dream “business trip.”
The trip to Vandy’s Hawkins Field, just off West End, isn’t the final destination of that dream.
He’s not looking past Vanderbilt, but he has goals of getting much farther west, to Omaha — home of the College World Series.
That’s where the Commodores were crowned national champions last year, and he knows Vanderbilt is looking for a repeat.
“Every year we work for the same goal,” said Forehand, after his team won the Atlantic Sun tournament over the weekend and earned the school’s second NCAA tourney bid.
“We want to end up playing in Omaha.”
Of course, you’ve got to start somewhere, so Forehand said he believes the game at Vandy is just the first step of many to accomplish the goal of making it to the World Series.
The Bisons baseball team defeated North Florida 8-7 in the Atlantic Sun baseball tournament championship game.
Others in the Nashville region bracket include Vanderbilt, Indiana, and Radford. Vanderbilt will be the host team for this division.
“This is somethng we have been working towards all season long, to see our name called on the screen for postseason play,” Forehand told Lipscomb athletics department reporter Kirk Downs, after his team watched the selection show on Monday. “It has been such a big day for our team to be able to see that together.
“Vanderbilt is such a great team and it will be a unique experience kicking off the tournament on their home field right here in Nashville,” he told Downs.
The opener against the Southeastern Conference runners-up on their diamond may be intimidating to many teams, but not for the Bisons.
This is a rematch from the April 7 shocker, when the Bisons toppled the then No. 1 ranked team in the land, Vandy, 3-1.
Lipscomb got a long-distance “pep talk” from its No. 1 fan when the players gathered for the selection show on Memorial Day.
“President (Randy) Lowry has always been our biggest supporter,” Forehand said.
“For him to take a minute today to wish us luck from London is such a huge thing for our team.”
Forehand said he hopes to make Lowry and the fans proud to be Lipscomb Bisons boosters.
Forehand’s team plays an aggressive base-running style of small ball that has kept many opponents off guard. Don’t expect to see that change in the NCAA tourney.
“It is just something we practice every day,” Forehand said. “Our team has bought into this style and knows it is a big part of our offense.”
Forehand said he knows what to expect from coach Tim Corbin’s Commodores.
“There is probably no question that we will get their A-game from their best pitcher,” Forehand said. “That is what we expect and want everyone else to do the same.
“It does not matter who you play first, everyone is going to have a good team.” Forehand said he knows that his team will bring its best against Vanderbilt, just as they did in April.
Lipscomb will put its nation-leading 15-game road win streak on the line at 7 p.m. Friday night.
The game, to be broadcast on ESPN3, will be called by Dave Neal and Chris Burke, according to the Lipscomb athletic department’s Downs.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics