Lipscomb falls to No. 1 Vandy Boys in midweek matchup

Lipscomb falls to No. 1 Vandy Boys in midweek matchup

After winning their first conference series of the year, Lipscomb baseball returned to action Tuesday afternoon visiting crosstown rival Vanderbilt at Hawkins Field in an 11-3 loss.  Lipscomb got the action going early with an RBI-double from senior infielder Haddon Adams and a solo-HR from senior utility player Carter Smith. Meanwhile junior pitcher Dylan Bierman got the start for the Bisons and made quick work of Vanderbilt’s leadoff batters in two consecutive 1-2-3 innings. But Vanderbilt’s dominant batters got going in the third inning when two Commodores reached base and Bierman was pulled in favor of junior pitcher Noah Thompson. Thompson only lasted two batters before an injury forced him to retire for the night.  Both teams went through a rotation of pitchers, but it would not be enough for the Bisons, who allowed four runs in both the third and fourth innings, and offensively could not keep up with Vanderbilt’s stifling pitching. Adams led the Bisons in going 2-for-4 from the plate and scored one run. For the Commodores, freshman outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. went 3-for-4 on the evening and scored two runs. Thompson got the loss, his second of the season, and freshman pitcher Patrick Reilly got the win improving his record to 2-0. With the loss, Lipscomb moves to 7-8 and the top-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores move to 16-3. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
Lipscomb baseball season ends with loss to No. 18 Radford

Lipscomb baseball season ends with loss to No. 18 Radford

Lipscomb baseball watched its season come to a close after losing to No. 18 Radford 5-2 in a NCAA Regional elimination game on Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Field. Radford scored runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings. The largest number of runs came in the sixth inning, in which Radford scored three from an error, sacrifice fly and home run. During the middle of the sixth inning, the game was delayed by rain for over an hour — something the Bisons have seen a lot of this year. “We have been through so many weather delays this year, that the stoppage in play did not bother us,” senior Grant Massey said. “We actually felt at the time that it was an advantage to forget about what happened in the top of the sixth.” Teammates echoed Massey, saying the delay would help them get in the right mindset to come up with a big rally in the later innings. But Lipscomb still had trouble getting to Radford’s relievers. “I have to give credit to all their pitchers including their reliever and closer,” Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand said. “They had pitchers that were very precise and made the big plays when they needed to.” The only runs for Lipscomb came from a two-run homer from senior Josh Lee. This was the only home run Lee had on the entire season. Lee, who played for Vanderbilt as a freshman before transferring to Central Arizona Community College, said it was odd to hit his only home run of the season at the field where his collegiate career began. “[It was] definitely a full-circle experience...
Lipscomb baseball takes loss to Vandy in NCAA Regional opener

Lipscomb baseball takes loss to Vandy in NCAA Regional opener

The Lipscomb baseball team fell to Vanderbilt 9-1 at the NCAA regional game at Hawkins Field Friday night.  Vanderbilt spread out its scoring in the second, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The Commodores started the scoring with two runs in the second inning on a two-run homer by left fielder Jeren Kendall. Vanderbilt’s big inning came in the sixth when it scored a total of five runs on three singles and a double. “We held with Vanderbilt the first few innings,” Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand said. “We just gave them too many freebies.” The only run for the Bisons came from junior redshirt Adam Lee. “I saw that [Vandy starter Carson Fulmer] threw a slider on a three-two pitch,” Lee said. “I put a good swing on it, which led to a base hit.” Lee’s RBI was Fulmer’s first run surrendered in 27 and 2/3 innings at home. The last one was on March 14 against Arkansas. Fulmer, who is considered to be a first-round draft pick by many experts, pitched seven innings and had 11 strike outs. “We knew what he [Fulmer] was going to bring,” Forehand said. “He was using the breaking ball effectively and threw it short, which really messed with our batters. “It is hard to prepare for a guy that throws a 95-mile-an-hour fastball and the next pitch is a 79-mile-an-hour breaking ball at your waist.” Forehand said he hopes the bats for Lipscomb will ignite its offense Saturday. Lipscomb will take on Radford on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the losers’ bracket. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
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...

Josh Lee sends Lipscomb baseball past No. 1 Vandy

Senior Josh Lee made his way back to where his college baseball career began when he provided the firepower to lift the Bisons past his former team, No. 1 Vanderbilt, Tuesday night. Lee drove in three runs for the Lipscomb baseball team to help guide them to a 3-1 win at Hawkins Field. Before coming to Lipscomb, Lee was recruited by Vandy and played three games for the Commodores his freshman year. In 2013, he transferred to Central Arizona Community College before landing at Lipscomb his junior year. “Once I got on Lipscomb’s campus last year I knew this was home for me,” Lee said. “It’s where I was meant to be.” Lee said that although Vandy was not the right fit for him, he enjoyed building relationships with the coaches and players there. Although brief, his experience there helped him prepare for this game. “It was definitely a different feeling [playing on Hawkins Field] than any other game we have had, but it’s a place I was very familiar with, so I knew what to expect in terms of the crowd and how the field was going to play and what I was going to get from the opposing team,” Lee said. Lee said he followed the advice of his father when he stepped up to the plate. “I didn’t want to make the moment too big,” Lee said. “That’s what my dad always told me to do — just relax, have fun, see the ball, hit it gap to gap and just have that in the back of my mind.” Tuesday night, Lee batted in runs in the first...