Lipscomb baseball takes one of three to Stetson in weekend series

Lipscomb baseball took a 5-1 loss to Stetson Friday, but came out Saturday to take a 3-1 victory for senior night at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium. In Friday’s matchup, the Bisons could not get their bats going against the Hatter’s starting pitcher, Mitchell Jordan. Jordan pitched a complete game for Stetson. Lipscomb scored their only run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from sophomore Hunter Hanks. The Bisons could not string enough base hits together to score more runs. But things started to look up for senior night on Saturday. The Bisons started the scoring in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice-fly from senior Grant Massey and an RBI single from senior Jonathan Allison. “This class of seniors has been very special to me,” Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand said. “We have been through a lot together.” Junior redshirt Adam Lee chipped in with a home run in the bottom of the fifth to add to the score for the Bisons. “Adam has had a great season for us offensively,” Forehand said. “He had a good swing to put a charge on the ball for a homerun.” Freshman Jeffrey Passantino had a great start on Saturday for the Bisons. Passantino went eight innings and gave the bullpen some rest before the last week of the season. This makes two starts in a row that Passantino has gone eight innings. “We are beginning to expect this from him all the time,” Forehand said. “He puts our team in a good position to win every time he goes out there on the mound.” With this win,...

Walk-off error leads Bisons to Battle of the Boulevard victory

Thanks to an error from the Belmont catcher in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Bisons won the Battle of the Boulevard 10-9 on Tuesday night at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium. Sophomore Hunter Hanks scored the winning run for the Bisons after freshman Tyler Brown put the ball into play, forcing Belmont catcher Alec Diamond to hurry his throw. The ball sailed past the first baseman giving Lipscomb the victory. The hit by Brown was his first walk-off of the season. “I was honestly caught in the moment,” Brown said. “It was my first walk-off, and I had a great time. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.” Brown was the designated hitter for the Bisons, but that didn’t cause him to feel any more pressure than normal during hit at-bat. “It is my role on the team this year,” Brown said. “I had to stay calm and do my job.” Belmont jumped on the board first with two runs in the top of the first inning, but Lipscomb answered with three runs. The Bisons scored two runs in the bottom of the third with a big hit from senior Jonathan Allison. Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand called a double steal that brought freshman Michael Gigliotti home from third. Lipscomb scored two more runs after sacrifice flies from Allison and Gigliotti. In the bottom of the seventh, the Bisons scored two runs on a sacrifice bunt from redshirt freshman Allan Hooker and an RBI single from freshman Jeffrey Crisan. Redshirt junior Jaesung Hwang started the game for the Bisons, but after Hwang left the game, the Bisons bullpen blew a seven run lead in the top of...

Lipscomb baseball sweeps Butler to open season 3-0

The Lipscomb baseball team finished the season-opener with a complete sweep against Butler this weekend at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium. Due to Sunday’s weather forecast, the Bisons played a doubleheader on Saturday. In the first game on Friday, Lipscomb struggled to get hits and was down 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bisons began to rally when sophomore Hunter Hanks got a two-run double. Lipscomb scored an insurance run after hitting a single and piled on three runs in the sixth and seventh innings to win the game 9-3. The Bisons got off to a hot start in the second game, as an error by the Bulldogs’ shortstop led to a three run rally. Lipscomb played small ball, scoring on a sacrifice bunt and hitting three singles in the second inning. Both Lipscomb and Butler’s bullpens blew up, and the score was tied 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth. The bases were loaded as redshirt junior Adam Lee stepped up to the plate. The first pitch thrown by the reliever led to a walk-off, hit-by-pitch for a Bisons win of 9-8. In the final game, Lipscomb started out slowly, scoring one run in the first four innings. The Bulldogs failed to steal home, igniting the Bisons in the bottom of the fifth. Senior Grant Massey started the rally with a run-scoring single. Hanks and senior Mike Korte had doubles that scored two runs each. Freshman Jeffrey Crisan added a run-scoring single, resulting in a six-run inning for Lipscomb. Senior Jonathan Allison provided an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Lipscomb finished out...

Bisons advance to A-Sun Championship with win over Florida Gulf Coast

The Lipscomb baseball team advances to the 2014 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Sunday after beating No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast University in two games Saturday.  The Bisons had to play two games against Florida Gulf Coast at FGCU’s Swanson Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. Lipscomb lost the first one 10-5. Gulf Coast’s bats came out hot. They scored three in the first and four in the second. Lipscomb junior infielder Grant Massey and junior pitcher/infielder Tyson Ashcraft both had two hits in game one. Ashcraft, freshman infielder Hunter Hanks, redshirt sophomore outfielder Josh Lee, senior catcher Nick Rome and redshirt freshman catcher Tyler Bethune each had one RBI. In game two, Lipscomb’s bats came alive. The Bisons beat Gulf Coast 11-4. Lee, Massey and senior outfielder Drew Adams had three hits apiece.  Rome and Adams each had three RBIs. Junior pitcher Ian Martinez-McGraw threw a compete game.  He gave up four runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts. Lipscomb will need to beat No. 3 Kennesaw State twice on Sunday to take home the championship. The first game will begin at 12 and will air on ESPN3. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

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...