Bryan College Triangle

by Billy Findley
Sports Editor

The Lions baseball team thoroughly dismantled the Crusaders of Tennessee Temple (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 16-6 Tuesday evening. With this victory, the Lions now have a record of 16 wins and 23 losses for their overall record. They are 7-8 in the AAC.

At bat, the Lions were a force Tuesday night. The team finished the game with 22 hits and two home runs with 16 runs total. This is the second highest total of runs they’ve scored in a game this season.

“We really manufactured runs tonight,” Head Coach Taylor Hasty said after the game. “I think our team is really dangerous because we can really hit.”

The game was close for the first three innings with Tennessee Temple ahead just 2 – 1. However, the Lions were able to make a break away in the bottom of the third with junior outfielder Josh King pounding a home run with two men on base. The Lions continued the surge and were leading 10 – 3 by the end of the fifth inning. Defensively, the team stood their ground, turning a “huge” double play at the top of the sixth, according to Hasty.

One strength Hasty said he has observed with the team this year is their concern for each other on the field.

“This team really loves each other,” Hasty said. “They are passionate about seeing one another succeed.”

“We’re just like brothers out there,” sophomore outfielder Shane Clawson said.

Clawson said he, like Hasty, has observed the team chemistry and commented that it is important as players to know “we’ve got each other’s back.”

With only 15 games left in the season, the Lions are currently ranked fifth in the AAC. However, as nice as it may be to land a good seat in the playoffs, placing well in the tournament is still not a primary goal just yet, according to Clawson. King said the team likes to take things just one at a time.

The strengths of the team have undoubtedly come through in their hitting, according to King. He said he thinks the batting coaches deserve a lot of credit this season for helping the hitters to shine at the plate.

Overall, the baseball team has played exceptionally better this year than last, according to Hasty. Hasty said he attributes the better playing, not to mention much better record, simply to better playing all around in the game and he expects to see good results throughout the rest of the season.

Sophomore Ryan Hill makes a pitch during this weeks series against Covenant.

by Ericka Simpson
Staff Writer

The Bryan College baseball team hosted Covenant College (Lookout Mountain, Ga.) at Senter Field in a three-game series on March 26 and 27, losing the first two games but winning the third.

Lions lose first game

The Lions fell to the Scots 8-2 in the first game, despite taking the lead in the first two innings. Senior first baseman Pablo Rodriguez hit a home run in the first inning, which was the highlight of the game according to Head Coach Taylor Hasty.

Freshman outfielder Kevin Layne scored the Lions’ second and final run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI from junior outfielder Josh King, according to Hasty.

Junior pitcher Tyson Latham started the game on the mound, and pitched well, according to shortstop junior Jonathan Davis. Latham threw nine strikeouts.

According to Hasty, in the fourth inning Davis had an error and the Scots’ next hitter banged out a home run. The Lions could not recover from the Scots taking the lead.

Lions fall to Scots in the second game of the series

In the second game, the Lions lost 14-5 to the Scots. Hasty said the team did not “execute on defense,” and the Scots’ pitcher threw multiple strikes, which eventually led to Bryan’s second loss.

“We did not make adjustments to the pitcher,” Hasty said. “We were really anxious on offense all weekend and as a result, we lost.

According to Davis, the game was “all around an ugly game.” The Lions were not consistent in offense, defense or pitching. Read full story »

by Catherine Rogers
Staff Writer

The Bryan Lion’s baseball team tackled a tough three-game series this past weekend against the RedStorm of the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) and came out with two loses and one determined win.

Head Coach Taylor Hasty said that the RedStorm is a “very well-coached team from top to bottom” with “five really good seniors in their lineup who can all hit.”

This showed Friday night as Rio Grande took the lead in the first inning and caused a devastating loss of 15-3 for the Lions.

“Friday, we failed to throw strikes, and we really didn’t finish off hitters,” commented Hasty. “We had eight total walks, seven of which scored and we kind of lost momentum as a result of that.”

Junior pitcher Bronson Holland said, “I believe we’re better than the team we played. We just made costly mistakes.”

Saturday proved to be better for the Lions with the first game a close loss and the second a solid win. Read full story »

Billy Findley
Sports Editor

The Lions baseball team is taking the field this season with high expectations and focused minds, bolstered with a determination not to allow this season to end up like the last. Already, hopes for a better season are being solidified as a team once plagued with eligibility problems, coaching changes and fierce competition has been restructured, revamped and reenergized for the 2010 season.

Read full story »

Photo coutesy bryanlions.com. Bryan's Senter field at night.

by Justin Morton, design editor

The weekend of Oct. 30, the Bryan College Lions baseball team will be hosting, well, themselves in a series of games known as the World Series. The World Series is an intrasquad scrimmage that will be played to the best out of 3 games with teams that are selected by the coaches in a draft-type situation.

Read full story »