by Jesica Parsley | May 17, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb softball team lost 4-3 to Virginia Tech in their first game of the NCAA Knoxville Regional Friday afternoon in at Lee Stadium on the University of Tennessee’s campus in Knoxville. The Lady Bisons scored first. Sophomore infielder/outfielder Brittany Elmore led off with an infield single then would reach second on a passed ball. Freshman infielder Mimi Cartwright reached on an error. Elmore would score to give Lipscomb the 1-0 lead after one inning. Tech junior infielder Lauren Gaskill and junior infielder Kylie McGoldrick got back-to-back hits in the third. A pitch to load the bases hit redshirt sophomore catcher Katey Smith. Senior outfielder Amanda Ake hit a triple to clear the bases and give Tech a 3-1 lead. In the sixth, senior infielder Kristen Sturdivant hit a single to left center. Junior infielder Jordan Abell came in to pinch run for Sturdivant. Senior infielder Haley Elliot was walked, and freshman Becca Dean pinch ran for Elliot. Junior outfielder Brianne Welch scored on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Senior infielder Bridgette Begle hit a single to score Abell and Dean. Begle’s RBIs tied the game up 3-3 after six innings. Gaskill singled in the top of the seventh. Tech’s freshman outfielder Vanessa Gonzalez’s hit a ball in the gap between shortstop and third that tipped off Begle’s glove at shortstop. The ball ended up on the top step of the Lipscomb dugout, which was ruled a dead ball. Gaskill scored on the play to give Virginia Tech the 4-3 lead. The Lady Bisons did not go down without a fight. In the bottom of the seventh, senior...
by Erika Thornsberry | Apr 28, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Senior night is always a special time for a team, but for Lipscomb’s softball team it was that much sweeter. Having a senior-led team, the women celebrated seven of their 20 players. Pitchers Ashley Anderson and Heather Parker, catcher Rena’ Cothron, shortstop Bridgette Begle, first basemen Kristen Sturdivant, right fielder Kelsey Cartwright and designated hitter Haley Elliot make up the senior class. “The standards are high, and the bar was raised for this team this year,” head coach Kristin Ryman said. “We have played so well this year.” The Lady Bisons took the sweep against Northern Kentucky this past weekend. They won the first game in a run-rule fashion 10-0, the second game 6-0 and on senior night won 6-3. This series may have been the seniors’ last, but it had a lot of firsts for them. Anderson was the winning pitcher in game one pitching her first no- hitter in her college career. “I wasn’t even paying attention; I didn’t even know until after the game because I was just thinking about how well we were hitting,” Anderson said. Begle hit her first grand-slam in her career with two outs in the fourth inning. Also in game one Heather Parker got her first hit of the season. “The seniors are a really special group. There’s not too many classes that are that big that you can say every single one of them are a key contributor to the team,” Ryman said. “They are a very unique group, five of them have been together for the long haul, and then we added Kelsey Cartwright and Heather Parker who transferred...
by Jesica Parsley | Apr 8, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons softball team got the sweep over ETSU this past weekend at Draper Diamond. Lipscomb run-ruled the Bucs in both games of the double header Saturday. The first game ended after five innings with a score of 9-0. Game two ended after five innings as well with a score of 10-1. The Lady Bisons combined for 18 hits, three home runs, two doubles and a triple in Saturday’s games. Senior infielder Kristen Sturdivant, senior catcher Rena’ Cothron and junior outfielder Brianne Welch all got to trot around the bases. “We hit extremely well in the beginning of the season, and it’s not like we’re hitting bad now, but to get so many hits this weekend is great for the team,” Welch said. “I expect our hits to keep coming the rest of the season.” Part three of the series on Sunday proved to be a closer game. ETSU got one across in the top of the first, but the Lady Bisons answered in the bottom half. Sophomore outfielder/infielder Brittany Elmore led off with a double, then scored on an ETSU error to tie the game 1-1. In the fifth inning, Elmore and junior infielder Paige Neely both reached on hit by pitches. Senior infielder Kelsey Cartwright blasted a three-run home run, which ended up being the difference in the game. The Bucs scored one more run in the sixth. The Lady Bisons finished the sweep 4-2. Sunday’s game was also “Strike Out Cancer” day to help bring awareness for breast cancer. The Lady Bisons wore pink jerseys, and the first 100 fans received a free pink t-shirt. “Having...
by Bridgette Begle | Mar 17, 2014 | Opinion, Sports
In our home series against Jacksonville we took two big wins on Saturday and spent some time dancing in the rain on Sunday. Saturday’s first game was nothing short of a roller coaster ride. Until the fifth inning it was tied at zero, but both teams had hot bats. The Dolphins struck first scoring four runs in the sixth inning. We only scratched one that inning but labeled ourselves the “Comeback Kids” later in the game. Losing 1-4 going into the seventh is not an ideal situation at all, but with the help of Kristen Sturdivant, who earned A-Sun player of the week, we matched their three run lead. After we rallied back to take the game into extra innings, Jacksonville started the inning off with a solo home run and went on to score two more runs. We connected some hits here and there and found a way to comeback again even after trailing by three. In the top of the ninth, the Dolphins couldn’t find a way to push one across so all we had to do was score one. With two runners on, slapper Brittany Elmore sent one over the right field fence, pushing our lead and finishing score to 10-7. With pounding hearts, we all decided to make the next game a little less stressful for everyone, including our fans. We came out and run ruled Jacksonville in the fifth with a grand slam by Brianne Welch to lock it in at 11-0. The real fun started on Sunday when the rain delay was in effect and both teams moved into Allen Arena to kill...
by Jesica Parsley | Mar 10, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons softball team won its second conference series against Florida Gulf Coast University this weekend in Nashville at Draper Diamond. Saturday’s doubleheader was full of nail biting and clutch hitting for the Lady Bisons. Lipscomb won both games. FGCU scored one run in the first game off an RBI single from senior catcher Chelsea Zgrabik. Not much action happened again until the bottom of the fifth inning. Freshman infielder Mimi Cartwright singled to leadoff. Junior outfielder Brianne Welch reached on a fielder’s choice. Sophomore outfielder Brittany Elmore got a bunt single to load the bases. Junior infielder Paige Neely singled up the middle to score Mimi Cartwright and Welch to give Lipscomb the 2-1 lead. The Lady Eagles responded in the sixth scoring two runs off of senior infielder Brittney Garabedian’s single up the middle. Junior outfielder Kelsey Carpenter and freshman infielder Tori Van Camp scored to give FGCU the 3-2 lead. The Lady Bisons tied the game in the bottom of the inning off Elmore’s RBI single to center field. The Lady Eagles took the lead in the seventh after Garabedian hit a solo homerun. However, the Lady Bisons weren’t finished. Senior infielder Kelsey Cartwright knocked a solo homerun with one out to tie the game 4-4. With one runner on base, senior catcher/infielder Haley Elliott hits a pinch-hit home run to give the Lady Bisons a 6-4 victory in game one. Lipscomb senior pitcher Ashley Anderson went all seven innings giving up four runs on five hits while striking out five batters. In game two, Lipscomb got on the board first off an RBI single...
