Lipscomb softball takes two of three to North Florida

It was almost a perfect conclusion to an already special weekend for the Lipscomb softball team — almost.  After winning the first two games of the three-game conference series on Saturday, the Lady Bisons were upended by the North Florida Ospreys 7-6 on Sunday afternoon at Draper Diamond at Smith Field. Despite a late rally in the sixth and seventh innings, the Lady Bisons came up short in the end of the last game. “We did a good job late in the game with runners on, but not early in the game,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said. “It stinks that six runs is not enough. I think we should have capitalized on some things earlier in the game but we didn’t.” Lipscomb had no problem getting on base, as they recorded nine hits total, but couldn’t quite finish the job when they needed to. “We can’t leave bases loaded twice in the first five innings,” Ryman said. “That was a killer.” Despite the loss on Sunday, Ryman was optimistic about the two wins on Saturday. “We’re at the point of the season where every game matters,” Ryman said. “That is a positive takeaway.” The Lady Bisons were led offensively by senior Paige Neely and freshman Abby Fenichel who each had three hits while junior Baylee Williams added two of her own. Williams and junior Brittany Elmore also led the way with two RBI’s a piece. In the circle, junior Kelly Young was accredited with the loss. She gave up six runs on five hits while striking out seven. On Saturday afternoon, the ending was different in both games. Senior Gracey Aguirre bolted a solo homer over the left-center...

Lipscomb baseball takes weekend series against Georgetown

The Lipscomb baseball team took home the weekend series against Georgetown after a 4-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium. After dropping the first game 8-5 on Friday night, the Bisons bounced back on Saturday afternoon to claim an 8-3 victory. With the win on Sunday, Lipscomb improved to 17-8 on the season and 2-1 against the Hoyas in the all-time series. Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand gave credit to Georgetown and said that this non-conference win should help the team heading into conference play. “Georgetown has a solid team; they are scrappy and hard to play against,” Forehand said. “This was a good series win for our club with conference play just a week away. Hopefully we can continue to build the momentum.” Several players contributed to win on the offensive end led by senior outfielder Jonathan Allison who went 3-for-3, including two RBI and one run scored. “We are beginning to expect that from Johnny [Allison] every time out,” Forehand said. “Hitting is difficult, but he is really swinging a good bat right now. When we get runners on base, everyone looks forward to him coming to the plate. He is producing every week, so hopefully he can continue that.” On the mound, junior right-hander Denton Norman held the Hoyas in check. He gave up just one run and four hits in eight and one-third innings of work. “It was a solid performance for Denton today,” Forehand said. “We always talk about how the starter can’t win us the game, but he can put us in a position to win, and that is exactly what we got from him...

Lipscomb softball splits doubleheader against Western Kentucky

It was a tale of two games for the Lipscomb softball team on Tuesday afternoon. After dropping the first game 9-2, the Lady Bisons bounced back winning 3-1 in game two against Western Kentucky at Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium. In game one, the Lady Toppers opened the score in the third inning, but Lipscomb tied the score in the bottom of third. Junior outfielder Brittany Elmore hit a single to right field, then stole second before junior infielder Baylee Williams drove her home on a single up the middle. Things began to unravel for the Lady Bisons in the fifth inning as the Hilltoppers capitalized on two hits, two walks and two hit batters for five runs. Elmore scored the only other run in the bottom of the fifth on an error. She also stole three bases, bringing her season total to 27. The Lady Toppers went on to score two more runs in the sixth before adding their ninth and final run in the last inning. Junior Tanner Sanders was accredited with the loss. She surrendered seven runs, five hits, walked seven and struck out two batters in five innings of work. Sophomore McCarley Thomas gave up two hits and two earned runs in two innings of relief. Following the first game, Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman stressed that the team needed the leaders to step up. “Leadership’s a big thing for us,” Ryman said. “We’ve got to play with a little bit more fire. It starts with our seniors — them bringing that fire and leadership everyday in practice and then bringing it on game day.” In game two, senior outfielder Brianne Welch opened the third inning with...

Power Rangers come out on top in ‘Jolly Dodger’ dodgeball tournament

The Power Rangers rarely, if ever, have been defeated by their opposition, and Friday night was no different…kind of. In the annual Lipscomb dodgeball tournament (this year’s theme being the pirate-influenced “Jolly Dodger”), Team “Power Rangers” defeated “Lipscomb Volleyball” in an epic championship held in the Fanning Hall courtyard Friday night. Senior Ben Ashley explained what was going through his head during the final one-on-one showdown. “Honestly, I was just thinking, ‘This is the end, this is it. But after it’s all over, I’m still going to have a blast because we’re all friends’,” Ashley said. Part of the show included the teams’ theme and costumes. Sophomore Cedric Duncan explains how they came up with the idea for Power Rangers. “We had several ideas at first,” Duncan said. “Husband Housewives was the original one, but decided to go with the Power Rangers.” Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR. En route to their championship, they beat the defending champions, “Team Belmont.” “Everybody wanted us to beat them, so it felt  great to come out on top,” Duncan added. However, the fun didn’t stop there. Since it was Halloween, students had the chance to win $100 for the best costume. Via crowd vote, the winner was a student dressed as Batman. While the competition was fierce, many teams like the Power Rangers were in the tournament to have fun and entertain the crowd. “We had a plan up until the second round, but we weren’t thinking in terms of championship,” Ashley said. “We just wanted to put on a good show.” Carousel photo and gallery credit: Erin...

Lady Bison soccer team comes up short on senior night

Senior night for the Lipscomb women’s soccer team did not go as planned as they were shut out by Northern Kentucky Friday. Lipscomb attempted more than twice as many shots as NKU, but in the end had nothing to show for it, resulting in a 2-0 loss. Prior to the game, the Lady Bisons honored their three seniors: Karli Crosby, Baylee Linnell and Brittany Rupple. With conference tournament implications on the line, the stakes were very high. NKU’s Aubrey Muench opened the score in the 30th minute to give the Norse a 1-0 lead, then scored again in the 49th minute to seal the win. The Purple and Gold finish the regular season with a 10-6-2 record overall and 4-2-1 in conference. As it stands now, the Lady Bisons will likely head into the Atlantic Sun Tournament as the No. 2 seed, and will have a first round bye before taking on the winner between the No. 3 seed Jacksonville and No. 6 seed Kennesaw State. The two weekend, single-elimination tournament begins next Saturday, Nov. 1, and will conclude Sunday, Nov. 9 at Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Meyers, Fla. For more information about the 2014 Atlantic Sun Women’s Soccer Championship, visit atlanticsun.org/sports.wsoc or go...