by Micah Kennedy | May 6, 2021 | News Slider, Sports, Uncategorized
Fans of the Lipscomb softball team were treated to a nail-biter Wednesday after three late-game runs secured a 3-2 victory for the team over Tennessee State. This was the team’s first game back since April 20 due to a recent team quarantine, which led to questions about if the team would come out slow. That was soon answered after the early innings of the game. The Lady Bisons weren’t able to create offense early and trailed 2-0 through five innings. The Lady Tigers two runs came in the third inning after junior shortstop Lauren Farias scored on an error, and sophomore outfielder Analeigh Coursey scored by way of a sac fly. The offensive drought came to an end in the sixth inning when sophomore outfielder Presley Leebrick led off the inning with a solo homer to right field. That burst of offense set up what would be an eventful final inning. Breanna Burke pitched a strong final inning, not allowing any hits and striking out two batters in the process. The bottom half of the inning started with a double to centerfield from senior infielder Jenna Endris. Following that, sophomore infielder Kelly Paulson, entered the game as a pinch-runner. Paulson advanced to third off a sac bunt from junior outfielder Jessie Brown. Paulson then scored from a single to right center by junior outfielder Abby Davis. Following the hit, Davis stole second base. This all set up a walk-off ground single batted by junior infielder Amy Vetula. The win boosted the team to a winning record, finishing the regular season at 17-16. The Lady Bisons will hit the road for the first round of the ASUN tournament facing the Liberty Flames. The first...
by Micah Kennedy | Mar 23, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
They say it’s not how you start but how you finish. This was the case for the Lady Bisons softball team after following up an 0-2 doubleheader day against North Alabama with a 5-2 victory on Sunday to close out the series. The ASUN doubleheader day actually ended with Lipscomb out-hitting the Lions, but they just were not able to manufacture sustained rallies to win either game leaving more runners stranded than North Alabama. In the first game, the Lions bats were working early scoring two runs from freshman Sidney Bevis’s RBI single and senior Harley Stokes’s RBI single in the first inning. Lipscomb answered in the fourth by loading the bases and benefitting from freshman infielder Katelyn Belding’s sac fly to bring in junior outfielder Jessie Brown from third. In the fifth, it was more offense for the Lions with an RBI single from freshman Emma Broadfoot and a sac fly by junior Georgia Land. The Lady Bisons did rally in the seventh scoring two runs thanks to a sophomore Kamrie Rich RBI single, but the team couldn’t follow up with any more offense and lost the first matchup 4-3. Senior Megan Garst picked up the win and senior Breana Burke took the loss. The second game seemed more promising in the early goings with pitching reigning supreme early on. Going into the top of the fifth the score was 1-0 Lady Bisons, with the only run being scored on a groundout RBI from sophomore outfielder Presley Leebrick that brought freshman infielder Makayla Alvey across home plate in the third. The complexion of the game changed in the...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 11, 2021 | News, News Slider, Sports
Capping off the end of their six-game homestand the Lady Bisons hosted their rival Belmont Bruins Wednesday afternoon in a midweek matchup but fell 5-1. Junior pitcher Katie Turner got her first start of the season and got off to a rocky start, allowing three hits off of the Bruins’ top three batters. “Belmont came out aggressive and attacked us,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said in a statement released by Lipscomb Athletics. “We were never able to get back in it.” Turner bounced back and struck out two of the next three batters as well as forcing a fly out to end the inning. Lipscomb matched Belmont in hits for the afternoon but was only able to capitalize on one chance in the third inning where a ground out allowed junior infielder Amy Vetula to score. The Bisons would allow two more runs in the fifth and sixth inning, bringing the total to five for the Bruins. “We are still trying to figure out who we are,” Ryman said. “We are still trying to learn to play with consistency. We had chances. We didn’t make adjustments and it wasn’t for lack of trying. We just didn’t succeed. We struggled with it.” Sophomore outfielder Presley Leebrick led the way for the Bisons with two hits in the loss including her fifth double on the season. With the loss, the Bisons fall to 9-8 on the season. Lipscomb travels to Kennesaw State to open ASUN conference play Saturday afternoon. Continue to follow Lumination Network for Lipscomb Athletics coverage. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Erika Plunkett | Feb 25, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb opened the afternoon with a 9-1 victory that ended in the 6th inning due to run rules but fell to the Panthers 3-1 Wednesday afternoon in their 2021 home opener. Even though the Lady Bisons walked away with a game 1 victory, it was the Northern Iowa Panthers who got the first Draper Diamond run of the year as redshirt senior shortstop Sammey Bunch led off the top of the first inning with a home run. But it didn’t take Lipscomb long to even the score as sophomore catcher Kamrie Rich countered with a home run of her own in Lipscomb’s side of the first inning that also brought home senior outfielder Caitlin Turner. From there the Lady Bisons controlled the scoring and did not allow another Panther run while also dominating the offense, scoring eight unanswered runs. Rich ended the game with three hits, two runs, and six runs batted in. Graduate transfer pitcher Breanna Burke got the win for Lipscomb pitching all six innings. In the second game of the afternoon, Rich continued her scoring streak in the first inning bringing home junior infielder Amy Vetula and giving the Lady Bisons a 1-0 lead. In a flipped script from game one, it was Lipscomb who would go cold offensively not scoring another run. Meanwhile, Bunch also continued her scoring in game two of the action adding another home run to her tally for the afternoon bringing home herself and sophomore infielder Kamryn Shaffer for the go-ahead run and the win. The Lady Bisons travel to Coastal Carolina this weekend for the Chanticleer Showdown before returning home...
by Erika Plunkett | Feb 12, 2021 | News, News Slider, Sports
A normal start date is about the only normal thing for the 2021 Lipscomb University softball team. After having their season cut short one year ago, Coach Ryman and her players have had to adjust to a totally different world filled with new COVID restrictions and obstacles to playing the sport they love. “If I would have guessed last year mid-March when all this started initially, I would have thought we would have been done for a couple of weeks, and then they would try to pick back up with things,” said head coach Kristin Ryman. “No one ever envisioned it would be what it has turned into with the pandemic.” The pandemic has wreaked havoc on all facets of life forcing everyone to reshape their outlook on life. “Every day we are out here is a good day,” said Ryman. “Let’s practice that way, let’s enjoy what we do, let’s get to know each other, and take every day as a blessing right now. That’s the biggest thing, but knowing too preparation-wise at a moment’s notice someone could go down and not be a starter anymore. So, for all of the other girls that are working really hard behind them, [they need to be] working every day as if they could be the starter every day.” Although Covid caused many problems for the Lady Bisons, the shortened 2020 season did allow their young roster to mature by getting real game experience that did not count against their collegiate eligibility. “I think a lot of those girls got some key time last year and in a sense looking back...
