Lipscomb baseball headed to Vandy for NCAA Regionals

Lipscomb baseball headed to Vandy for NCAA Regionals

When Lipscomb’s baseball team takes on Vanderbilt in the NCAA regionals Friday evening, coach Jeff Forehand will be just beginning his dream “business trip.” The trip to Vandy’s Hawkins Field, just off West End, isn’t the final destination of that dream. He’s not looking past Vanderbilt, but he has goals of getting much farther west, to Omaha — home of the College World Series. That’s where the Commodores were crowned national champions last year, and he knows Vanderbilt is looking for a repeat. “Every year we work for the same goal,” said Forehand, after his team won the Atlantic Sun tournament over the weekend and earned the school’s second NCAA tourney bid. “We want to end up playing in Omaha.” Of course, you’ve got to start somewhere, so Forehand said he believes the game at Vandy is just the first step of many to accomplish the goal of making it to the World Series. The Bisons baseball team defeated North Florida 8-7 in the Atlantic Sun baseball tournament championship game. Others in the Nashville region bracket include Vanderbilt, Indiana, and Radford. Vanderbilt will be the host team for this division. “This is somethng we have been working towards all season long, to see our name called on the screen for postseason play,” Forehand told Lipscomb athletics department reporter Kirk Downs, after his team watched the selection show on Monday. “It has been such a big day for our team to be able to see that together. “Vanderbilt is such a great team and it will be a unique experience kicking off the tournament on their home field right here...

Bisons defeat top-ranked FGCU with eighth-inning rally

The Lipscomb Bisons baseball team upset the top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Thursday night in their second game of the Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship thanks to a late game rally. The Bisons scored three go-ahead runs in the eighth inning to take a 5-4 lead. With two outs and two runners on base, junior left-fielder Josh Lee blasted a hit to left field that scored senior right-fielder Drew Adams. Freshman catcher Tyler Bethune was then able to score both Lee and freshman third baseman Hunter Hanks to give Lipscomb the lead. The Bisons notched their first run of the game in the fourth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Lee that sent Adams to home plate, a preview of what would come in the eighth inning. Thanks to their two victories, Lipscomb will not be playing on Friday, but will instead jump back into action on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. against the winner of Florida Gulf Coast and Jacksonville. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Bisons defeat Jacksonville on extra inning walk-off in A-Sun tourney

Freshman infielder Hunter Hanks hit a walk-off single to give Lipscomb a 2-1 win over Jacksonville in the Atlantic Sun tournament in Fort Myers, Fla. The Bisons won in the 10th inning. Junior infielder Grant Massey led off the 10th with a single to left field. Junior outfielder Jonathon Allison bunted Massey over to second, followed by a Hanks single through the left side to score Massey. Lipscomb scored one run in the third. Allison tripled to right field. Senior outfielder Drew Adams singled to score Allison to give the Bisons the 1-0 lead. Jacksonville scored their solo run in the ninth. Lipscomb will face top-ranked Florida Gulf Coast Thursday night at 6:15. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
Bisons top Hatters on Lipscomb’s senior day to close regular season

Bisons top Hatters on Lipscomb’s senior day to close regular season

The Lipscomb Bisons men’s basketball team won one for the lone senior against the Stetson Hatters Saturday at Allen Arena. In an early morning tipoff, the Bisons secured a 83-76 win over Stetson. As fans munched on free goodies from Fox’s Donut Den, the Bisons engaged in a highly defensive match. In the first half, Lipscomb only made three of 13 attempts from the 3-point line, including the first points of the game, a 3-pointer from senior guard/forward Khion Sankey. Despite the troubles from beyond the perimeter, Lipscomb inched closer and closer to Stetson’s cementing lead, with the Hatters up 38-36 at the break. In the second half, the Bisons began to pick up steam. The 3-point problems began to erode, as the team made five of their 11 attempts. Lipscomb also out-rebounded Stetson 19-to-12 in the latter half. While Lipscomb never truly pulled away from the Hatters, the Bisons would hold on to win 83-76. “It feels great, especially to get a win at home,” redshirt freshman J.C. Hampton said. Freshman guard Josh Williams led the team in both scoring and rebounding with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Martin Smith was not too far behind with 20 points. Junior guard Malcolm Smith had 18 points and six rebounds. Hampton had nine points and five rebounds. Fouling from Stetson helped Lipscomb’s cause, as the Bisons went 31-for-40 from the line. Malcom Smith hit 10 of his 12 attempts. With the win, the Bisons close the regular season with a winning record overall (15-14) and in conference (10-8). The team finished fifth in Atlantic Sun regular season play behind Florida...

Bisons can’t overcome Ospreys in regular season finale

Looking to build on Thursday night’s win over the University of Jacksonville, the men’s basketball team turned in a valiant effort at home Saturday night against the University of North Florida Ospreys (13-18, 8-10 in conference), but effort wasn’t enough to take the win. The team fell to the visitors 85-78 in a game that solidified the Bisons’ bracket seating for the Atlantic-Sun tournament. After a strong start by Lipscomb (leading by six at 14:55), North Florida fought their way back to make it a close first half. That is, until the last three minutes, where the Bisons went on a run, widening the margin to seven at the half. The second half saw more strong play from Lipscomb, holding a 10-point lead with a little more than 10 remaining. Unfortunately, the Ospreys once again chipped away at the lead, eventually taking the top score at 3:30. After this, the game became a back-and-forth of jumpers, layups and free-throws, with the Ospreys hitting key shots at moments, and the Bisons missing when it counted. North Florida walked away from Allen Arena with the win. The Bisons end their regular season 12-17 (7-11 in the A-Sun). Senior Deonte Alexander, who was honored at half court before the game for Senior Night, led the Bisons in scoring with 19, while redshirt sophomore Carter Sanderson added in 16 points. Junior Khion Sankey led the team in rebounds with nine and had 12 points on the night. Sankey said he felt that the team’s shooting percentage in the second half was a cause for trouble. “I feel like we played hard. They just made...