Early mistakes cost the Lady Bisons in the midweek Battle of the Boulevard matchup

Early mistakes cost the Lady Bisons in the midweek Battle of the Boulevard matchup

Capping off the end of their six-game homestand the Lady Bisons hosted their rival Belmont Bruins Wednesday afternoon in a midweek matchup but fell 5-1. Junior pitcher Katie Turner got her first start of the season and got off to a rocky start, allowing three hits off of the Bruins’ top three batters.  “Belmont came out aggressive and attacked us,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said in a statement released by Lipscomb Athletics. “We were never able to get back in it.” Turner bounced back and struck out two of the next three batters as well as forcing a fly out to end the inning.  Lipscomb matched Belmont in hits for the afternoon but was only able to capitalize on one chance in the third inning where a ground out allowed junior infielder Amy Vetula to score. The Bisons would allow two more runs in the fifth and sixth inning, bringing the total to five for the Bruins. “We are still trying to figure out who we are,” Ryman said. “We are still trying to learn to play with consistency. We had chances. We didn’t make adjustments and it wasn’t for lack of trying. We just didn’t succeed. We struggled with it.” Sophomore outfielder Presley Leebrick led the way for the Bisons with two hits in the loss including her fifth double on the season. With the loss, the Bisons fall to 9-8 on the season. Lipscomb travels to Kennesaw State to open ASUN conference play Saturday afternoon.  Continue to follow Lumination Network for Lipscomb Athletics coverage. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
Lipscomb Softball returns to the diamond on Friday to open 2021 season

Lipscomb Softball returns to the diamond on Friday to open 2021 season

A normal start date is about the only normal thing for the 2021 Lipscomb University softball team. After having their season cut short one year ago, Coach Ryman and her players have had to adjust to a totally different world filled with new COVID restrictions and obstacles to playing the sport they love. “If I would have guessed last year mid-March when all this started initially, I would have thought we would have been done for a couple of weeks, and then they would try to pick back up with things,” said head coach Kristin Ryman. “No one ever envisioned it would be what it has turned into with the pandemic.” The pandemic has wreaked havoc on all facets of life forcing everyone to reshape their outlook on life. “Every day we are out here is a good day,” said Ryman. “Let’s practice that way, let’s enjoy what we do, let’s get to know each other, and take every day as a blessing right now. That’s the biggest thing, but knowing too preparation-wise at a moment’s notice someone could go down and not be a starter anymore. So, for all of the other girls that are working really hard behind them, [they need to be] working every day as if they could be the starter every day.” Although Covid caused many problems for the Lady Bisons, the shortened 2020 season did allow their young roster to mature by getting real game experience that did not count against their collegiate eligibility. “I think a lot of those girls got some key time last year and in a sense looking back...
Lady Bisons return home to play first series of the season at Draper Diamond

Lady Bisons return home to play first series of the season at Draper Diamond

The Lipscomb Lady Bisons ended last season as ASUN champions and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 and for only the third time in Lipscomb Softball program history. After losing many graduating seniors, this year’s team is much younger than last year, but still has multiple key players returning. Younger team than last year The Lady Bisons played with seven seniors during the team’s 2019 campaign. During the 2020 campaign, Lipscomb will only have four seniors on the roster. “We just graduated a lot of power kids; a lot of power hitters through the middle of the order, plus our leadoff and our nine hitter who were speedsters, and a lot of veterans in the outfield,” Lipscomb softball coach Kristin Ryman said. Coach Ryman’s strategy is not to try and replace the kind of skills that the graduated players on last year’s team possessed; instead her strategy is to build up the skills that the incoming and returning players have. “We don’t have to replace what all of those other girls did, all the homeruns they hit,” Coach Ryman said. “It’s how do we play to the strengths of this new crop of kids we have.” Amy Vetula’s hot start While Lipscomb lost many players that led to the team’s success in 2019, the Lady Bisons are still returning multiple key players. The 2019 ASUN Player and Defensive Player of the year Hannah DeVault will be returning for her senior season, along with sophomores Katie Turner and Amy Vetula, who both earned spots on the ASUN All-Freshman Team last year. “Amy Vetula kind of started...
Gallery: Lady Bisons draw Tuscaloosa Regional in NCAA Softball Selection Show

Gallery: Lady Bisons draw Tuscaloosa Regional in NCAA Softball Selection Show

Surrounded by family, friends, and Bison faithful in the Allen Arena Hall of Fame room, the Lipscomb softball team learned their next stop is Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as pairings were announced during the NCAA Softball Tournament Selection Show. Lipscomb drew the Tuscaloosa regional, hosted by the SEC regular-season champion and overall eight-seed, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Lady Bisons will open the regional against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Also, included in the Tuscaloosa regional are the Alabama State Hornets. “This is a hard regional,” coach Kristin Ryman said.  “This [Arizona State] is a tough team. But I don’t care. We are too.” After winning 22 of their last 24 games, Lipscomb won the ASUN championship and earned an automatic berth into the NCAA softball tournament. The first round of the tournament, which is set to begin May 17-19, is divided into 16 regional campus sites with four teams at each location. The four teams will play a double elimination tournament to determine who advances to the super-regional round the following weekend. Philip Hutcheson, Lipscomb’s athletic director, praised this team and their coaches for an incredibly exciting season, mentioning how fun it has been to watch them this year. ASUN Coach of the Year Ryman talked about how “connected” her team has been all season, attributing their success to this chemistry. The first game is set to be played at 3 p.m. Friday and can be streamed via ESPN+....
Pitching stars send Lady Bisons to ASUN Softball Tournament Final

Pitching stars send Lady Bisons to ASUN Softball Tournament Final

Twenty-one hours and two weather delays after it began, the Lipscomb softball team emerged the victors in the ASUN softball quarterfinal matchup against North Alabama. Senior Mandy Jordan was on the mound all 12 innings, totaling 137 pitches, but letting no Lions score. Due to inclement weather coming into the area, the ASUN elected to move all of Thursday’s tournament games up by an hour and a half, but not even the ASUN was prepared for the pitching duel between Jordan and North Alabama junior Megan Garst. Nine innings into this Thursday morning matchup, Garst and Jordan had combined to allow only nine hits, and the score remained 0-0. In the top of the 10th, with two UNA outs and a runner on base, lightning forced the suspension of the game. Shortly over 50 minutes later the game resumed. Although the delay was inconvenient, it caused no problems for either pitcher. Both pitchers returned to the mound without skipping a beat, extending the game into the 12th inning. In the bottom of the 12th, the Bisons finally had a runner in scoring position with the opportunity for a walk-off win, but Mother Nature was not ready for this game to end yet. More thunderstorms rolled into Ft. Myers, pushing the rest of the game until Friday morning. Thursday’s portion of the game lasted 9 1/2 hours, and it included 330 pitches. Friday, all it took was one pitch. Just a few minutes after 7 a.m. Central, senior Sarah Higgins’ single drove Hannah DeVault home and advanced the Bisons to the next round. The Bisons’ day was not over yet....