The Lipscomb Bison come in at 9-4 on the young season, but 0-3 away from the friendly confines of Dugan Field. They opened the season by taking the final two games to claim a series against Eastern Kentucky. Middle Tennessee beat them in mid-week action. The Bison then hosted a tournament, the Mule Mix Classic.... It was a classic if you were a Lipscomb fan as a the Bison swept a field of Miami Ohio, The United States Army, and Western Michigan. The next mid-week, the Bison got some payback against Middle Tennessee State before dropping a game the next day to our friends from Western Kentucky (who may be a pretty good baseball team). The Bison then swept Alabama A&M (who has been on the wrong end of a few lopsided games already this year) in a weekend set. Most recently, Lipscomb lost a high scoring affair to Tennessee Tech, who has a pretty good hitting coach themselves.
The Bison do not have a player listed on Baseball America's top ten of Atlantic Sun draft eligible prospects. They went 39-20 last season, which set a school record in wins, and after winning the A-Sun tourney, made Vanderbilt's regional, going 0-2.
Friday late afternoon, we'll see Cody Glenn, a 5th year senior lefty. Glenn actually started his career at LSU and pitched there from 2012 - 2014. I don't recall seeing him in 2014 or 2012. He was actually a member of their weekend rotation in league play in 2013. He's a big build who hails from Houston, Texas. On the season, he's 1-0 in 3 appearances, all starts. He's thrown 13 2/3 innings, striking out 10 and walking 4. Opponents are hitting .273 against him. He's also thrown 5 wild pitches and hit 3 more batters.
Saturday afternoon will bring Jeff Passantino. The sophomore righty from Fort Myers Florida had an outstanding freshman season, being named to the Atlantic Sun All Freshman team, 2nd team All Atlantic Sun, and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He had a 64/14 K/BB in 67 innings a season ago. He's off to a good start on the year with a 3-0 record in 3 appearances, all starts. He's pitched 18 2/3 innings so far and recorded a very good 20/1 K/BB. Opponents are hitting .301 against him, so it's safe to conclude that he'll throw a lot of strikes. Only 3 of the 22 hits he's allowed this season have gone for extra bases.
Sunday afternoon, we will see Brady Puckett, a great big (6'8) sophomore righty from Murfreesboro. His numbers are even better than Passantino's. On the year, Puckett is 3-0, having started three games. He has a 1.71 ERA, having thrown 21 innings. Opponents are only hitting .213 against him, and he also has a 20/1 K/BB. Like Passantino, Puckett also made 2nd team All Atlantic Sun and Atlantic Sun All Freshman team in 2015.
Interesting they throw Glenn on Friday and that may have involved a promise to secure his transfer. Who knows. Simply put, we'll see one guy who played a big role for an outstanding SEC program and two other guys who look to be very talented in their own right.
You know, I talked last week about much Wright State liked to run, then it just wasn't that much of a factor when we played. Lipscomb likes to run too. 13 games into the season, they're already 29/39 in stolen bases. Michael Gigliotti and Lee Solomon appear to be the main steal threats.
Gigliotti is their leading hitter at .417/.508/.625. The sophomore left handed hitter hails from Fort Lauderdale. I'm starting to think Lipscomb's entire 2015 freshman class comprised the 2nd team All Atlantic Sun and Atlantic Sun All Freshman team. We'll see him in CF, hitting leadoff.
We should see Adam Lee playing 1st base and hitting 3rd. Lee is hitting .308/464/.359 with a team leading 13 RBIs. The 5th year senior right hander is from Franklin, Tennessee, suburban Nashville. He lead them in HRs last year, but has yet to hit one out this season.
These guys are hitting .287/.416/.406. They've drawn 80 walks in their 13 games.
I'll be honest, I didn't know much about Lipscomb, but they are a better looking team on paper than I anticipated. Their sophomore class looks very strong and I'm sure we'll see some of those names on the Baseball America draft prospect list in a year. I suppose it's been since 2008 that we have beaten a team from Nashville. Vanderbilt has taken a series from each year since then and Belmont came down here and took two from us in 2013, when they retired Blake Dieterich for the final out in Dieterich's only career at bat. This is obviously out last tune up before league play.... You'll get a more informed write up this time next week about Kentucky, and we'll see better competition then too. But Lipscomb doesn't appear to be a pushover. I'm sure they're coming down here fully expecting to win this weekend. It'll be a different test than Wright State was, but one that should be beneficial to us all the same.
The Bison do not have a player listed on Baseball America's top ten of Atlantic Sun draft eligible prospects. They went 39-20 last season, which set a school record in wins, and after winning the A-Sun tourney, made Vanderbilt's regional, going 0-2.
Friday late afternoon, we'll see Cody Glenn, a 5th year senior lefty. Glenn actually started his career at LSU and pitched there from 2012 - 2014. I don't recall seeing him in 2014 or 2012. He was actually a member of their weekend rotation in league play in 2013. He's a big build who hails from Houston, Texas. On the season, he's 1-0 in 3 appearances, all starts. He's thrown 13 2/3 innings, striking out 10 and walking 4. Opponents are hitting .273 against him. He's also thrown 5 wild pitches and hit 3 more batters.
Saturday afternoon will bring Jeff Passantino. The sophomore righty from Fort Myers Florida had an outstanding freshman season, being named to the Atlantic Sun All Freshman team, 2nd team All Atlantic Sun, and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He had a 64/14 K/BB in 67 innings a season ago. He's off to a good start on the year with a 3-0 record in 3 appearances, all starts. He's pitched 18 2/3 innings so far and recorded a very good 20/1 K/BB. Opponents are hitting .301 against him, so it's safe to conclude that he'll throw a lot of strikes. Only 3 of the 22 hits he's allowed this season have gone for extra bases.
Sunday afternoon, we will see Brady Puckett, a great big (6'8) sophomore righty from Murfreesboro. His numbers are even better than Passantino's. On the year, Puckett is 3-0, having started three games. He has a 1.71 ERA, having thrown 21 innings. Opponents are only hitting .213 against him, and he also has a 20/1 K/BB. Like Passantino, Puckett also made 2nd team All Atlantic Sun and Atlantic Sun All Freshman team in 2015.
Interesting they throw Glenn on Friday and that may have involved a promise to secure his transfer. Who knows. Simply put, we'll see one guy who played a big role for an outstanding SEC program and two other guys who look to be very talented in their own right.
You know, I talked last week about much Wright State liked to run, then it just wasn't that much of a factor when we played. Lipscomb likes to run too. 13 games into the season, they're already 29/39 in stolen bases. Michael Gigliotti and Lee Solomon appear to be the main steal threats.
Gigliotti is their leading hitter at .417/.508/.625. The sophomore left handed hitter hails from Fort Lauderdale. I'm starting to think Lipscomb's entire 2015 freshman class comprised the 2nd team All Atlantic Sun and Atlantic Sun All Freshman team. We'll see him in CF, hitting leadoff.
We should see Adam Lee playing 1st base and hitting 3rd. Lee is hitting .308/464/.359 with a team leading 13 RBIs. The 5th year senior right hander is from Franklin, Tennessee, suburban Nashville. He lead them in HRs last year, but has yet to hit one out this season.
These guys are hitting .287/.416/.406. They've drawn 80 walks in their 13 games.
I'll be honest, I didn't know much about Lipscomb, but they are a better looking team on paper than I anticipated. Their sophomore class looks very strong and I'm sure we'll see some of those names on the Baseball America draft prospect list in a year. I suppose it's been since 2008 that we have beaten a team from Nashville. Vanderbilt has taken a series from each year since then and Belmont came down here and took two from us in 2013, when they retired Blake Dieterich for the final out in Dieterich's only career at bat. This is obviously out last tune up before league play.... You'll get a more informed write up this time next week about Kentucky, and we'll see better competition then too. But Lipscomb doesn't appear to be a pushover. I'm sure they're coming down here fully expecting to win this weekend. It'll be a different test than Wright State was, but one that should be beneficial to us all the same.
