by Tyler Harvey | Feb 28, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons ended last season as ASUN champions and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 and for only the third time in Lipscomb Softball program history. After losing many graduating seniors, this year’s team is much younger than last year, but still has multiple key players returning. Younger team than last year The Lady Bisons played with seven seniors during the team’s 2019 campaign. During the 2020 campaign, Lipscomb will only have four seniors on the roster. “We just graduated a lot of power kids; a lot of power hitters through the middle of the order, plus our leadoff and our nine hitter who were speedsters, and a lot of veterans in the outfield,” Lipscomb softball coach Kristin Ryman said. Coach Ryman’s strategy is not to try and replace the kind of skills that the graduated players on last year’s team possessed; instead her strategy is to build up the skills that the incoming and returning players have. “We don’t have to replace what all of those other girls did, all the homeruns they hit,” Coach Ryman said. “It’s how do we play to the strengths of this new crop of kids we have.” Amy Vetula’s hot start While Lipscomb lost many players that led to the team’s success in 2019, the Lady Bisons are still returning multiple key players. The 2019 ASUN Player and Defensive Player of the year Hannah DeVault will be returning for her senior season, along with sophomores Katie Turner and Amy Vetula, who both earned spots on the ASUN All-Freshman Team last year. “Amy Vetula kind of started...
by Erika Plunkett | May 11, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Twenty-one hours and two weather delays after it began, the Lipscomb softball team emerged the victors in the ASUN softball quarterfinal matchup against North Alabama. Senior Mandy Jordan was on the mound all 12 innings, totaling 137 pitches, but letting no Lions score. Due to inclement weather coming into the area, the ASUN elected to move all of Thursday’s tournament games up by an hour and a half, but not even the ASUN was prepared for the pitching duel between Jordan and North Alabama junior Megan Garst. Nine innings into this Thursday morning matchup, Garst and Jordan had combined to allow only nine hits, and the score remained 0-0. In the top of the 10th, with two UNA outs and a runner on base, lightning forced the suspension of the game. Shortly over 50 minutes later the game resumed. Although the delay was inconvenient, it caused no problems for either pitcher. Both pitchers returned to the mound without skipping a beat, extending the game into the 12th inning. In the bottom of the 12th, the Bisons finally had a runner in scoring position with the opportunity for a walk-off win, but Mother Nature was not ready for this game to end yet. More thunderstorms rolled into Ft. Myers, pushing the rest of the game until Friday morning. Thursday’s portion of the game lasted 9 1/2 hours, and it included 330 pitches. Friday, all it took was one pitch. Just a few minutes after 7 a.m. Central, senior Sarah Higgins’ single drove Hannah DeVault home and advanced the Bisons to the next round. The Bisons’ day was not over yet....
by Erika Plunkett | May 9, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
After sweeping FGCU and laying claim to the ASUN regular season title last weekend, reigning ASUN pitcher of the week, senior Mandy Jordan leads her Lady Bisons back to Ft. Myers for the 2019 ASUN Softball Tournament. In Thursday’s doubleheader, seniors Jenna Pealor and Graysen Gladden and juniors Hannah Devault and Peyton Ward batted in four runs. Errors by the Eagles allowed two more Bisons to score. Jordan was the player of the night as she pitched all seven innings in the first game shutout and got the save in the 4-2 game two win, allowing zero runs and only two hits. Although the Bisons clinched a bye in the ASUN tournament with Thursday’s victories, it was Friday’s win that proved all-important, giving the Bisons their first regular-season ASUN title since 2010. Jordan once again was the hero, pitching the entire game that went into extra innings. This was her second shutout of the series as the Bisons came away with a 1-0 victory over FGCU off of a DeVault RBI in the 10th inning, edging out Liberty for the top-seed in the ASUN tournament. Not only are the Lady Bisons the regular-season champions, but the ASUN named coach Kristin Ryman and DeVault the ASUN Coach of the Year and the ASUN Player of the Year respectively. DeVault also was honored with the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year award. In addition, senior Sarah Higgins, DeVault and Gladden represented Lipscomb on the ASUN’s all-conference first team, while Jordan and senior Jordan Fortel were named to the ASUN’s all-conference second team. Freshman Amy Vetula and freshman Katie Turner received...
by Martin Baker | Jan 20, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
With the first game of the season only three weeks away, the Lipscomb softball team is preparing for what has all the looks of a promising season. The team only lost two seniors from last year and retained most of its strengths at the plate and on the mound. “Our speed game is good, as well as having heavy hitters with the likes of Jenna Pealor and Jordan Fortel,” Lipscomb assistant Megan Rhodes-Smith said. “And our defense is strong with players like Peyton Ward at shortstop and Hannah DeVault at second base.” Devault was just voted the ASUN’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. She made only three errors in 2018 and finished the season with an ASUN-leading .983 fielding percentage. Another advantage the team has is the depth of their bench, including of six pitchers. Coach Rhodes-Smith said it’s not typical to have that many on a roster, but that it’s a “good problem to have.” One of those pitchers is a familiar face to Lipscomb Athletics. Chloe Rogers, a former Lipscomb volleyball player, decided to join the softball team for her fifth year playing four seasons for coach Brandon Rosenthal. In their preseason games during this fall, the team went 8-0 against the competition, which included some fellow NCAA Division I schools. Coach Rhodes-Smith said that “the hardest competition is ourselves” and that the toughest offense and defense the team has faced has been their own in practice. However, she did mention that Liberty is new to the conference and will be a somewhat unknown factor and that Florida Gulf Coast has been a tough opponent in the...
