by Lumination Staff | May 15, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
By Megan Kuper, Shelby Talbert and Rose Schaddelee The Lady Bisons softball team looks for its 12th win of the 2020 season, approaching the fourth inning ahead by 10. Less than an inning later, Lipscomb defeats the Lady Tarheels due to the “mercy” run rule. The girls celebrate the big win and give hope to having the best season yet… until the unimaginable happened. The day after the Bisons big win, all winter and spring sports were brought to an end by the NCAA, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak that became a national emergency. “There’s no way that it’s over,” said Jenna Endris, a Bison whose junior season abruptly ended. “We did not see it coming at all,” she said, drawing a long, slow breath. “And it doesn’t seem real….” Hearing the season is over sprung many “Whys?” to Endris and the team: ”Why did we want to kill ourselves in the fall from conditioning and weights? And why did we go to practice for four hours every single day to not even compete for a championship?” Every day gets easier for the junior, she explained. The Lipscomb Bisons are reigning conference champions, and her positive attitude was fueled by cracking light-hearted jokes about going “back-to-pause-back (instead of “back-to-back”) conference champs” in her final season as a Lady Bison next season. Endris was not the only one feeling the impact of the season’s cancellation. “There were lots of tears and many expressed frustration, you know some having worked their whole softball careers and to have it end like this….,” said coach Kristin Ryman. “However we tried to remind...
by Grant Ledgister | Apr 16, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider, Sports
Telling Lipscomb athletes that sports for the semester had ended hurt Athletic Director Philip Hutcheson as much as it hurt the athletes. “It was totally heartbreaking knowing what that meant for all of our spring sport athletes,” Hutcheson said. “When I went and told the baseball team about it, I felt like I was talking to 35 guys who had all torn their ACLs at the same time and their careers were over.” From quarantines and stay-at-home orders to school closing and everything in between, the coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed daily life for people across the world. For collegiate athletes and administrators, the virus has flipped their seasons upside down. In an announcement made in early March, the NCAA canceled the seasons of all spring and winter sports. This included the popular March Madness national basketball tournament. “Obviously there are many worse things going on in the world right now than not being able to play a sport,” Hutcheson said. “But for all of these students it’s very important and something they’ve worked towards for a long time. They realize that it’s not just games they’re going to miss, it’s time with their teammates and coaches.” To make up for the inability to play, the NCAA made the decision to give athletes playing spring sports an extra year of eligibility. Some athletes, however, may not be able to take advantage of this. “We know already that about half of the seniors will not be coming back,” Hutcheson said. “The rest of them – some financial decisions have to be made. Most spring sport athletes, if not all of them,...
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 Grant Bricker | Mar 28, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons secured an 8-3 victory over the Tennessee Tech Eagles in their first meet of the season. The in-state, non-conference matchup tonight was played at Lipscomb’s Draper Diamond in Nashville, Tennessee. It was a tale of two pitchers with Lipscomb getting the better end of it.. Lipscomb pitcher Megan Gray started off the game with three strikeouts in-a-row to cap off a very impressive first inning. Then after an uneventful bottom of the first inning, Tennessee Tech took an early lead after Gray gave up a two-run homer to left center. This would pretty much be Gray’s only mishap of the evening as she stayed on the mound for all seven innings. She went on to strikeout an impressive seven batters while only allowing three runs in the process to finish off a stellar performance. As for Tennessee Tech’s pitching, it was almost the opposite. Tech struggled the most in the third inning with three runs allowed. Pitcher Alyssa Arden only lasted four innings before getting pulled, giving up six runs. The Eagles finished off the evening with Kayla Hughes on the mound, who only gave up two runs in two innings. Luckily for the Lady Bisons, it wasn’t long after a home run that they woke up in the third inning. After a strikeout to start the bottom of the second inning, Jenna Pealor hit a nice double to left centerfield to place herself in prime scoring position. Later, after an error on a beautiful line drive from Destinee Brewer, Gladden and Pealor would both score, tying the game up at two to end the...
by Martin Baker | Mar 15, 2019 | News Slider, Sports, Student Spotlight
Whether she’s pitching from the softball mound or spiking the ball on the volleyball court, Lipscomb’s Chloe Rogers feels right at home as part of a team. “Just relax, play the game, you’ve played it your whole life, just have fun with it,” Rogers told herself as she joined the Lipscomb softball team last spring after finishing her senior season playing for the Lipscomb volleyball team. Rogers came to Lipscomb from Overland Park, Kansas, where she played volleyball and softball for Blue Valley High School as well as travel club teams. Her love for each sport started early thanks to both her parents, Jennifer and Richard Rogers, who also played college sports. Her mother played volleyball, and her father played baseball. When college came around, however, Chloe had to choose one or the other. “I was super undecided going into the college recruiting process. I loved both the same,” Rogers said. “So recruiting came around, and I was getting more interest for volleyball; and I think that kind of helped with the recruiting process because it seemed more appealing when people were after you.” Volleyball won in the end, and she became a Bison under head coach Brandon Rosenthal. At the time, she thought that would be the last time she would play competitive softball, and she knew she would miss it. “I made the right decision,” Rogers said. “I love volleyball, and if I had to do it again, I’d do it the exact same way; but it is kind of like leaving a little part of you behind.” Chloe would get her chance to play again after...
