by Erika Thornsberry | Feb 8, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons softballl team walked away from the Music City Classic with three wins, but lost 14-2 in the final game this weekend at Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium. In the first game, the Lady Bisons had a 7-1 victory against the University of Missouri–Kansas City. The team took two more wins in the following games, with 8-0 and 9-1. The whole infield is a completely new team except for two players, senior Paige Neely and sophomore Mimi Cartwright, but it didn’t take long to notice the new players. In the first three games, the Lady Bisons had a total of seven home runs, seven doubles and Neely had an impressive batting average of .778. Freshman Abby Fenichel powered two balls over the fence in her first college game, recording three home runs for the weekend. Senior Brianne Welch kept the streak alive with two home runs for the weekend. Senior Gracey Aguirre and freshman Caitlin Plocheck were big power hitters and also contributed with their own home runs. “It helps when you are in a positive environment and when everyone else around you is hitting good,” Fenichel said. “I have been struggling in practice so I just came out there, tried to forget about that and clear my mind, and it just ended up going my way.” Junior pitcher Tanner Sanders took the 7-1 win against UMKC, only giving up one run. Junior Kelly Young pitched a no-hitter against IUPUI with a score of 8-0. The game against IUPUI made for Coach Kristin Ryman’s 300th career win. Her 300th win was a short one, as the Lady Bisons took the...
by Jesica Parsley | May 18, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb softball team won two games on Saturday to advance to the final day of the NCAA Knoxville Regional on the University of Tennessee’s campus. The Lady Bisons will have to beat the Tennessee Lady Vols twice on Sunday to advance to a super regional. Lipscomb eliminated Charleston Southern in the first game on Saturday. Freshman infielder Mimi Cartwright doubled to score sophomore infielder Brittany Elmore to give the Lady Bisons a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Elmore scored on junior infielder Paige Neely’s single up the middle. Lady Bisons had a 2-0 lead in the sixth. Charleston Southern tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom on the sixth. Lipscomb would strike again in the seventh off a solo homerun from senior infielder Kristen Sturdivant. Pinch runner Jordan Abell scored on freshman outfielder Dee Baddley’s single to give the Lady Bisons the 4-2 lead. Charleston Southern failed to score in the bottom of the seventh. Senior pitcher Ashley Anderson picked up her 20th win giving up six hits while striking out four. Lipscomb had a rematch against Virginia Tech in game two on Saturday. The Lady Bisons bats did not disappoint. Lipscomb recorded 12 hits and scored 12 runs. Senior infielder Haley Elliot hit two homeruns and had six RBIs. Junior outfielder Brianne Welch had a triple and an RBI. Senior infielder Bridgette Begle recorded a three hit game with an RBI. Elmore and Neely both had two hits. Elmore earned two RBIs. Virginia Tech scored three runs. Lipscomb sophomore pitcher Tanner Sanders went the distance for Lipscomb giving up seven hits with one strikeout. The...
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 Jesica Parsley | May 8, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons softball team was eliminated from the Atlantic Sun Softball Championship Thursday evening at Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium. The 3-0 loss to USC Upstate that ended the tourney for the Lady Bisons was the end of a scoreless day for the home team. Earlier Thursday, the Lady Bisons lost their first game of the tournament to the Stetson Hatters 2-0. That struggle began with senior pitcher Ashley Anderson walking in a run in the first inning. The Lady Bisons had a chance to answer when junior infielder Paige Neely got a single in the bottom of the inning but was left stranded. The next runner to cross the plate did not come until the fifth inning. Stetson junior infielder Demi Meza and senior pitcher/infielder Meredith Owen earned back-to-back walks. Meza and Owen were bunted over by sophomore infielder Kayla Drury. Meza scored on a sacrifice fly from junior utility player Amanda Grimaldo to give the Hatters a 2-0 lead. The Lady Bisons scattered six hits in the losing effort. Anderson picked up the loss. Her record fell to 19-5. Owen picked up the victory for the Hatters, improving her record to 24-7. Lipscomb head coach Kristin Ryman said she was not expecting the morning to end like it did. “I thought we came out in good spirits,” Ryman said. “We struggled to adjust to the strike zone early in the game. It’s frustrating to come into a game expecting to start one way and not have that happen.” The offensive struggles continued for the Lady Bisons Thursday evening in game two against USC Upstate. Upstate got on the board...
by Carter Sanderson | Apr 15, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The dedication of Smith Stadium had the Lipscomb softball team hitting their stride, winning three in a row this weekend against the Mercer Bears at Draper Diamond. The softball stadium was officially dedicated to Michael Smith and his son Derek Smith, who are owners of Rio Grande Fence Company. The Smiths are heavily active in the softball program, giving the university one of the best fields in the Atlantic Sun Conference, if not nationally. The field was dedicated to the Smiths after the 9-1 blowout win against Mercer on Saturday afternoon, and right before the 5-4 win that took eight innings to get it done. Their streak continued on Sunday when they hosted Mercer for the third and final game, and after trailing 1-0, they forced extra innings yet again and senior infielder Kelsey Cartwright drove in the winning run. “Well, yesterday, [Mercer’s pitcher] was jamming me a lot, so I was expecting more in, but the pitch before was out,” Cartwright said. “Thankfully, Paige [Neely] got on to even give me the opportunity, but they came back again with the outside, and I was able to luckily get a hit up the middle.” Neey, the junior infielder who scored the winning run, also contributed heavily on both sides of the ball all weekend for the team. She said both sides were needed in each win. “Their team definitely kept us motivated, Neely said. “They were scratching and clawing, and we just had a motivation to not let them win and that went from defense to offense.” The weekend sweep puts the Lady Bisons at 34-9 overall and 14-6...
