Lipscomb baseball sweeps Quinnipiac in weekend series

The Lipscomb baseball team swept the games against Quinnipiac this weekend at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium.  Though the weekend got off to a rainy start, the Bisons won 5-0 in Friday night’s game. The Bisons brought their record 10-5 Saturday night when they won 9-4. As the rain cleared Sunday, the Bisons took a 3-1 victory. In Friday’s rainy matchup, neither team scored until the fifth inning, where the Bisons took the lead with two runs. Senior pitcher Ian Martinez-McGraw allowed only three hits from the Bobcats in eight scoreless frames. Freshman center fielder Michael Gigliotti made a leadoff double into left field just before running home to score in the sixth inning. In the seventh inning, the Bisons evened out the score with two insurance tallies. Lipscomb scored five runs in Friday’s matchup, marking the first time the Bisons have won without scoring seven runs this season. The Bisons returned to the diamond Saturday afternoon, where the Quinnipiac Bobcats took the lead with runs in the second and third innings. But Lipscomb responded with a two-run frame in the home half of the third. To get the Bisons’s offense started, senior second baseman Mike Korte and junior first baseman Adam Lee scored back-to-back solo home runs. Lipscomb took its first lead in the fourth inning after senior left fielder Jonathan Allison drew a lead-off walk. In the bottom of the fifth the Bobcats created a small rally after Mike Palladino knocked a two-out single to right. The Bisons responded taking the lead with a four-run frame. Lipscomb added its final run in the eighth inning. The clear sky and sun brought out another win...

Baseball sweeps La Salle in a powerful offensive weekend

The Bisons baseball team finished out a three-game sweep of La Salle with a 7-5 victory Sunday afternoon at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L Marsh Stadium. In the final matchup between the two, the Bisons took a 3-0 lead in the first inning before clinching the 7-5 win, and continued to score throughout the game. The Bisons produced at the plate all weekend even with different lineups. The series opener took place Friday afternoon, when the Bisons took the 8-2 win. In the game, redshirt freshman Allan Hooker took advantage of his first start of his college career. Hooker finished with three RBI’s and a two-run home run in his first career at-bat. The Bisons finished the day with 12 hits. Senior Ian Martinez-McGraw came away with the win. On day two of the weekend, Lipscomb pounded La Salle with a 13-5 victory. Hooker had another stand-out day for the Bisons as he led the team with four RBI’s and went 3-for-3. The Explorers jumped on the Bisons with a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Lipscomb responded in the fourth inning, and never looked back. Head coach Jeff Forehand said that he is most proud of the fact that his players are having quality at-bats. Freshman Michael Gigliotti finished the day 4-for-6 and junior Chucky Vazquez finished 2-for-5. Senior pitcher Nick Andros started the game for the Bisons and pitched 4.2 innings. Transfer Kyle Weller came in relief and finished the last 4.1 innings. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Bethune made his first appearance of the season for the Bisons during Sunday’s final matchup. Bethune, finished the day 2-for-3 and was the...

Baseball team excited to find new identity in 2015 season

Leading in to the 2015 season, the Lipscomb Bisons baseball team will focus on the current team and not get caught up on last season’s success. The Bisons made it to the conference championship game in the 2014 season, only to fall short to Kennesaw State, but majority of the team returned with big ambitions for this season. “When you have a team that ended on a little bit of success, and the majority of that team is coming back, there was a little bit of momentum that’s come from the end of last season,” Head Coach Jeff Forehand said about the end of last season. Even though the team finished with more success than they have in past years, they are still not satisfied and want to look to go even further. Forehand mentioned one of the big differences from last year’s team and this year’s is that the 2014 team really had no expectations set for them.  “There really was no expectation [last year] because there hadn’t been anything prior to that, that we had done. I think that’s kind of a scary thing, that this year there are a few more expectations,” Forehand said. “Not that we’ve been picked to win or anything like that, but I think people have recognized how we ended and that we’re getting better, so there are some expectations this time.” Forehand said that he wants his team to focus on the present team’s identity. “I guess it is hard to kind of not think about last year since we did come so close, but I mean we got a whole new...

Bisons bow out in A-Sun final

In a season that saw great improvement over the last, the 2014 Lipscomb Bisons’ baseball season came to an end on Sunday with a 7-1 loss to Kennesaw State in the Atlantic Sun Championship final. A win would have put the Bisons in a winner-take-all second match against Kennesaw State, with the victor advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Lipscomb posted a NCAA era school record for wins in a season with 33, and the Bisons also set a new team record for winning percentage with a 33-28 mark. The Bisons scored their lone run for the game in the second inning thanks to a hit from senior catcher Nick Rome that scored junior designated hitter Tyson Ashcraft. After an Owls scored a run in the third frame, the game remained knotted at one run apiece until Kennesaw scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. The Bisons had two players, juniors Grant Massey and Ian Martinez-McGraw, earn All-Tournament honors. Seniors Drew Adams, Jacob Knott, Conor Moynihan, Nick Rome, Chad Shannon and Weston Wolfe all played in their final game as a Bison. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

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...