The Lipscomb softball team swept a season-opening doubleheader on Saturday, winning 2-0 against the Tennessee State Tigers and 12-0 against the Georgia Highlands Chargers.
The Bisons came into the match 13-4 all time against the Tigers and this was the first time in at least two years the Bisons have played the Chargers.
As the Bisons took the field for the first time in exhibition competition this year, freshman Makayla Veneziale made her way to the circle. The Tigers’ first batter, Meaghan Lewis, lay down a bunt to the third base side and was thrown out. The Bisons got out of the first and gave up no hits and none of the Tigers reached a base.
In the bottom of the first, senior Amy Vetula led off for the Bisons, getting to first on a six pitch at bat. Junior Presley Leebrick put a shot to the left-center gap for an RBI double, and Kyndall Crawford drew a walk, loading the bases. The Bisons put up 3 hits, 1 run, and left 3 stranded on the bases.
Tori Womack led off the bottom of the second with a double off the fence. The Bisons put up a good half inning with hard hit balls but could not find the grass. The Bisons had 1 hit, 0 runs and 1 left on base.
Kamrie Rich hit a solo home run over the left-center wall and brought the Bisons a 2-0 lead over the Tigers with one out in the bottom of the 3rd. With a few more hard hit balls the Bison left the inning with 1 hit, 1 run, and 0 runners left on the bases.
Starting off with a few infield grounders and good plays by the Bisons, the Tigers had two outs in the top of the fourth. The Tigers hit a hard grounder through the 5-6 hole for a single. With a solid feilding play by Vetula, the Bisons got out of the half inning. The Tigers had 1 hit, 0 runs, and 1 runner left on base.
Lipscomb drew a walk to start out the first half of the fourth inning, followed by a shot back up the middle by Womack. A solid throw by the Tigers’ second base got the second out of the inning. The Bisons got 2 hits, 0 runs, and left 2 on base.
The Tigers had a hard hit double to lead off the top of the fifth. A great heads-up play by the Bisons led to a runner getting caught as she attempted to steal third. Veneziale got her third strikeout of the day to get the second out of the fifth. With a leaping catch, freshman infielder Avery Cox brought the top of the fifth to a close. It would be sophomore infielder Mariyn Waterman who grounded out to Veneziale to secure the 2-0 win for Lipscomb.
“It feels good to win the first game with a new team,” Veneziale said. She was one hit away from a no-hitter in her first-ever pitching performance with the Purple and Gold.
The Bisons then took the field for the second time against the Georgia Highlands Chargers. Waterman took to the circle for the Bisons, dominating play and leaving the Chargers with 0 hits, 0 runs, and 0 runners left on base.
In the bottom of the first, Oklahoma State transfer Maci Cunconan led off for the Bisons with a solid single into right field. In the third, Kelly Paulson hit a high ball to third base that was knocked down but not in time to get the out. Sophomore outfielder Joie Giarrizzo pinch ran for Buford, Georgia native Kelly Paulson and was able to steal second. A ball hit to second led to an easy throw and the end of the Bisons’ charge with 1 hit, 1 run, and 1 runner left on base.
The Chargers played hard hit balls into the field but the Bisons were on top of the ball throughout. Meanwhile, the offense continued to maintain control. Paulson led off the bottom of the fifth with a bunt to place herself on first. Katelyn Belding hit a short hop into the outfield to get a single and moved Paulson over to third base. The Bisons went up 4-0 with two runners on after a walk, and shortly after, Giarrizzo hit a hard fly ball to get herself an RBI single. By the end of the inning, it was 7-0 in favor of the home team.
The sixth and seventh innings followed in kind on both sides of the ball, and the Bisons ended up posting a 12-0 scoreline over the junior college side from north Georgia.
“The competition is going to get better,” said head coach Kristin Ryman. “Last year it was hard to see where we were without being able to play outside teams. [I’m] really proud of the pitchers for working hard and gutting out both games [despite being] down pitchers.”
The team stays in town this weekend when they host another doubleheader at Draper Diamond on October 2. They will face an opponent to be announced at 11 am, followed by another edition of the Battle of the Boulevard between Belmont and Lipscomb athletics. That match will take place at 1:30 pm and will be broadcast live on The Bison, Lipscomb’s on-campus radio station.
Photo courtesy of CJ Arndt