by Erika Plunkett | Apr 22, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
After splitting the doubleheader at E.S. Rose Park earlier this month, Lipscomb hosted the Bruins for the third and final game of the season between the Bruins and the Bisons where Belmont came out on top with a dominating 11-2 win. Lipscomb struggled from the first pitch in finding the strike zone, which resulted in Belmont easily reached base off of the walk. For the afternoon, the Bisons’ eight pitchers combined for a total of 13 walks. Of these 13 walks, five resulted in the batter who reached base eventually scoring a run, and two were RBI-walks bringing home two Bruin runs. In addition, Lipscomb allowed four Bruins to reach via the hit by pitch. Offensively, the Bisons were kept at bay by the Bruins starter freshman Will Jenkins, who struck out four and did not allow a run, a hit, or a walk in his four innings of work. In addition, the Bisons relied on a different alignment as they were without starting second baseman senior Haddon Adams and starting catcher sophomore Chaz Bertolani, two of the Bisons’ hottest hitters, who both rested in today’s matchup. Adding to the already thin Bisons’ order, injury from a pitch that hit junior designated hitter Chris Bashlor’s hand kept him out of most of the game. The Bruins scored first putting up three runs in the second and four runs in the fourth off of five singles from five different batters. Despite their offensive holes, the Bisons did finally get on the board in the bottom of the sixth with two RBI doubles from freshman infielder Ethan Stamps and senior infielder...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 27, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Saturday evening, Lipscomb’s volleyball team will play host to their quarterfinal game of the ASUN volleyball tournament, after clinching their seventh regular-season title and first since 2016. The regular-season championship was clinched last weekend at Bellarmine, who the Bisons beat 3-1 on Friday and swept 3-0 on Saturday. From these performances against the Knights, Lipscomb freshman middle blocker Meg Mersman was awarded the ASUN defensive player of the week. The Bisons’ regular-season record finished at 14-2, with a nearly perfect 11-1 conference record. Due to the COVID-19 altered structure of the schedule, Lipscomb played at and hosted each team in the ASUN North, which includes North Alabama, Liberty, Kennesaw State, and Bellarmine, but has not yet faced any teams from the southern region of the ASUN. Each of the top four seeds from each region reached the tournament, with the top two seeds from each division hosting a quarterfinal matchup, and will continue to play in separate brackets until the brackets merge for the semifinal matchups and the championship game on April 2nd and 3rd hosted at Kennesaw State. For the Bisons to complete the ASUN championship sweep on the season and clinch a spot in the 2021 NCAA volleyball tournament, they will need to rely on players like Mersman, senior outside hitter Megan Kuper, freshman outside hitter Kamryn Bacus and freshman setter Delaney Dilfer. Bacus, Kuper and Mersman all average over three points per set, and Dilfer adds nearly 10 assists per set. Other key contributors to watch out for from the Bisons include junior outside hitters Lanie Wagner and Logan Gish. If the Bisons advance Saturday, they will...
by John Tomlinson | Mar 23, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
After a tough Saturday outing for the Bisons, Sunday was a must-win as Lipscomb looked to grab the final game and win the first conference series. After a walk-off-winner on Friday night in extras from a sophomore catcher Chaz Bertaloni single along with 3.1 innings from sophomore pitcher Tyler Guilfoil, the Bisons won the first game. Saturday saw a crushing 15-2 win for the Kennesaw State Owls, but Sunday Logan Van Treek came out in dominating fashion with a seven-inning shutout performance. The 6-4 left-handed freshman from Lincoln, Nebraska held #7 Georgia to only two runs in his last outing, and the one before that saw his offense pick him up in a win against Creighton. Van Treek brought the same energy he’s had all season to this point. By the end of the game, Van Treek finished his second outing this season holding a team scoreless (the first against Murray State). Through 6.1 innings of work, the freshman was still dealing, even after seeing runners on first and second with nobody out in the very first inning. He was able to work himself out of trouble all game. Lucky for Van Treek, the Bisons had all kinds of offense on the sunny Sunday afternoon, 14 to be exact. The Owls had no answer for the Bisons all game long as Lipscomb overpowered them in every way. One player who highlighted the weekend on the offensive side of the ball was Chaz Bertolani. The sophomore catcher from Alpharetta, Georgia had a career day going 4-4 with 2 doubles, 2 singles, and a base on balls in his 5 at-bats...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 21, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Saturday afternoon, the Lipscomb Bisons fell to the Kennesaw State Owls 15-2 who bounced back after falling in extra innings Friday night. Kennesaw State started quickly scoring two runs in the first inning, and the success continued for the Owls on the defensive side of the ball as starting pitcher junior Luke Torbert retired the first eight Bison batters for the second consecutive night. . Unlike game one, Kennesaw left very few runners stranded, scoring 15 runs off of 17 hits and 3 walks. Meanwhile, the Bisons had a quiet night totaling only five hits against the ace Torbert, who pitched seven innings before being relieved by senior pitcher Anthony Rodriguez, who pitched two scoreless innings. Lipscomb’s only scoring came in the fourth inning off of singles by junior outfielder Maddux Houghton and sophomore catcher Chaz Bertolani bringing home freshman infielder Tiger Borom and junior designated hitter Chris Bashlor. Kennesaw State, on the other hand, had five players with multiple hits, and nine Owls scored in the game. Junior pitcher Max Habbeger recorded the loss in his third start of the season bringing his record to 1-2 and Torbert got the win for his second of the season. The rubber match will be played Sunday afternoon at 1 PM CT. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 20, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
After falling behind early, late-inning magic propelled the Bisons to a win in their first ASUN conference game in two years against the Kennesaw State Owls. Coming into the Friday afternoon matchup the Owls’ starting pitcher graduate transfer Jake Rice had worked 22 runless innings while holding his opponents to a 0.100 batting average. Rice lived up to his reputation by retiring the first ten Bisons that came to the plate. Meanwhile, Lipscomb’s starting pitcher freshman Ike Buxton held Kennesaw State to one run through as the first four innings, escaping a number of tight situations leaving eight Owls stranded. The fifth inning finally opened up the scoring for both teams, as the Bisons and the Owls both added three runs to their total. For Lipscomb, their three returning second-year seniors, infielders Haddon Adams and Brian Moore and outfielder David Graves, all scored for the Bisons, breaking Rice’s scoreless streak. The Bisons kept the scoring going in the sixth inning with a two-run homer from junior Maddux Houghton that also brought home senior infielder Carter Smith and gave the Bisons their first lead of the afternoon. Lipscomb held this lead until the top of the eighth when sophomore infielder Jesse Sherrill singled to score senior infielder Jake Coro and tie the game. Sophomore closer Tyler Guilfoil came in to end the eighth inning and worked three and a third innings while not allowing any more runs for the Owls to get his second win of the season. But the Bisons themselves could not find an answer for Kennesaw’s ace closer, Jared Rine, until a walk in the eleventh put...
