Lipscomb Bisons

Nashville Sports Online.com

Lipscomb Bisons

Basketball

The accomplishments of the Lipscomb Bisons and Lady Bisons basketball teams were celebrated Tuesday night with a recognition dinner on the playing floor at Allen Arena.

Coach Frank Bennett's Lady Bisons finished strong after struggling for much of the season. They beat arch-rival Belmont twice in the last five games of the season, including the first win for the Lady Bisons at the Curb Center and quarterfinals win in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament at Allen Arena.

The Lady Bisons lost in the semifinals to ETSU, the eventual tournament champion. It was the deepest they had advanced in the conference tournament since winning it in 2004.

"It was a tough season in many ways," said Bennett. "We really overscheduled. We played too much on the road and we played some major programs like Arkansas, Kentucky and Vanderbilt from the Southeastern Conference and Kansas State."

Bennett made three special awards to players.

Freshman point guard Jenna Bartsokas, a member of the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team, was the winner of the "Best Teammate" Award for "being fun to be around and willing to help other players out."

Senior point guard Catie Woods was presented the "Glue" Award for her ability to keep the team together in tough times. Senior forward Rachel Davis won the "Nails" award for having overcome so many injuries in an attempt to play this past season.

Bisons coach Scott Sanderson's team did not advance past the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament this season. Sanderson admitted that it was not the season he wanted.

"Every season has a life of its own," Sanderson said. "We had won a lot for a couple of years, but this season did not meet the expectations I wanted or that the players wanted.

"Our goals are always going to be to win in the conference, to win the conference tournament and to get into postseason play."

Sanderson also presented a number of individual awards. Freshman center Adnan Hodzic won the "Most Improved" Award.

His teammates chose freshman guard Jimmy Oden as the winner of the Michael Mays "Best Teammate " Award. Senior center Jason Hopkins won the "Academic" Award.

Dr. Steve Potts, Lipscomb's director of athletics, presented the James R. Byers Awards to Rachel Davis and Jason Hopkins. Each one received a Bible.

The finale of the evening was the presentation of a framed purple Bisons basketball jersey with the No.1 on the front to Dr. Potts. Both Sanderson and Bennett made the presentation to Potts who is leaving Lipscomb to serve as senior director of athletics at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

"Steve Potts has a passion for doing things right," said Sanderson. "He will always take the high road even if it is unpopular. He has been unbelievable to work with. He has a passion for excellence."

Bennett, who is celebrating his 35 year at Lipscomb as a coach on both the high school and college levels, echoed the sentiments of Sanders.

"Steve has provided great leadership as we made the move from NAIA to NCAA Division I," Bennett said. "It hasn't always been easy. We haven't always had as much staff or as much money as we would like.

"When there has been a difficult situation he has been there to walk with you. He has covered our backs."

Dr. Potts was visibly moved by the gesture.

"What a blessing it has been to be here with you," he said. "The things I will take with me are not how many wins or losses we had but the depth of the friendships and the genuine love and affection for each one of you."

Tennis

The 7th seeded Bisons lost to 2nd seeded Stetson 4-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament on April 18th in Johnson City, Tenn.

The Bisons won one match this season versus Belmont. Despite a difficult year, Assistant Head Coach Andrew Harris has brought much to the team.

The Bisons are a young team, but will only continue to grow in the future and are already looking to what next season holds in store.

Women's Tennis

The 8th seeded Lady Bisons played in the Atlantic Sun Conference tennis tournament on April 18th in Johnson City, Tenn. They lost to #1 seeded Jacksonville 5-0.

It has been a tough year for the Lady Bisons, under the direction of new Assistant Head Coach Kristin Lusk.

The Lady Bisons have not won any matches this season, but have had some very close calls. Though the team is young, the talent will continue to grow in future.

Baseball

The Bisons offense put up some runs late on Tuesday, but it was not enough as they were defeated by the University of Alabama, 8-4 on Tuesday, April 22.

The Crimson Tide first broke through against Bisons starter, Paul Piennette in the second inning, plating four early runs to take a 4-0 lead. Alabama increased their lead to 5-0 with another run in the third.

Piennette was relieved by right-hander Matt Bowling in the fourth. In three innings of work, Piennette gave up five runs on five hits while striking out two.

Bowling threw a scoreless fourth and fifth, but allowed his only run of the game in the sixth. In three innings of work, he gave up just the one run on five hits while striking out four.

Bowling was relieved by Josh Smith. Smith lasted 1.2 innings, giving up two runs, one in the seventh and one in the eighth.

Meanwhile, the Bisons finally broke through against the Crimson Tide in the seventh on a two run single by Ben Williams.

They added another run in the eighth on Caleb Joseph's 13th homerun of the season, but Alabama got the run back with their run in the bottom of the inning for an 8-3 lead.

The Bisons plated another run in the ninth on an RBI single by Jorge Gutierrez but it was too little too late, as Lipscomb lost 8-4.

Gutierrez was the only Bisons with a multi-hit game, recording two.

Piennette received the loss to drop to 1-3 on the season. The Bisons are now 21-19 this season.

The Bisons will be back in action on Friday, April 25, when they welcome East Tennessee State for a three game series. Left-hander, Rex Brothers is expected to receive the game one start for the Bisons.