Well boys and girls, we're now just a few days away from opening day and the first pitch of the 2025 Kentucky baseball season. I figured I'd do a little research into our first opponent and let you know what we might expect to see. Please keep in mind that before starting this, I knew nothing about Lipscomb baseball.
For those unawares, the Lipscomb University is located in Nashville, Tennessee. Lipscomb is a private university with about 5,000 students and they carry the nickname The Bisons while wearing purple and gold. They are a part of the A-Sun conference. They play their home games at Ken Dugan Field, a 1,500 seat stadium that opened in 1991 with natural grass infield and a turf halo behind home plate. Fences go 330 to right and left and 405 to dead center. Lipscomb has been a D1 participant since 2004.
Jeff Forehand returns for the 19th year as their head coach and is 480-503 in his time leading the Bison. Robert Zeigler will be the pitching coach for Lipscomb, it will be his second (I think) season in that role. Prior to that he was Director of Player Development. UK fans might remember Robert Zeigler as he was a pitcher for UK for three seasons prior to transferring to Kent State. I believe this would have been around 2014ish. Johnny Cardenas is also an assistant coaching coming for his first year in the program. Prior to that he was at SFA. Former big leaguer Lucas Duda rounds out their staff as hitting coach.
In 2024 Lipscomb had an RPI of 228 as they went 22-34 and (15-15 in the A-Sun). They won just 2 games out of 17 against Q1 and Q2 opponents. The Bison hit a paltry .264 as a team a year ago while opponents hit .298 against them. Their team ERA wasn't anything pretty to look at either at 6.86. They did seem to be a team with some decent power with a combined 88 home runs with two players hitting 19 and 20. However, it appears both of those guys are gone.
Seems like there will be a lot of new faces for the Bison, as is the new norm in college baseball. It appears that just 2 of their main 9 will be returning for 2025. David Coppedge is a Preseason All A-Sun Selection and hit .313 a year ago. The infielder did hit 10 home runs, but he's prone to striking out, doesn't seem to walk a whole lot, and will not be a huge threat to steal. Looks like a year ago he was 3B and DH at times. Also returning is Parks Bouck (what a name). Bouck played some 2B a year ago hitting .273 with 5 home runs. He also had a good bit more strikeouts than walks (35Ks v 25 walks) and he was 10 of 11 on swiped bags. Tobias Jacob also returns. He played in about half of the games a year ago as a freshman outfielder and as a DH. He hit just .210 in his debut season with 2 home runs while striking out 33 times to just 10 walks. He did have 7 doubles in his 22 hits, so that is a pretty solid number there. Not really sure who else might see time for the Bison this weekend given all the turnover, but anyone returning likely doesn't have any stats that are going to jump off the page. Casey Sunseri transferred from Baylor and is listed as utility guy. Sunseri had just 3 starts last year with the Baylor Bears and hit just .200. So, not sure how the step down in competition will translate for him.
On the mound it appears that Lipscomb returns just 1 of their 3 weekend starters. Jake Poindexter, a transfer from Georgia, started 11 games and appeared in 16 for the Bison. He had a 5.98 ERA in 61.2 innings pitched. He struck out 40 and walked 23. He is a 6'0 righty. Ryan Kutz was also at least a part time starter for them. The 6'1 righty previously from Davidson College is a Grad Student who threw 41.2 innings in 16 appearances and 7 starts striking out 24 and walking 15. Redshirt Sophomore Tanner Lyne has the best hair on the team, but the ERA doesn't go with it. The redshirt sophomore 5'10 righty threw 20.1 innings of work in 2024 but carried an 8.41 ERA striking out 22 and walking 12. He had the third worst BA/a on the team at .348. Joey Mitchell will be one of their lefties this weekend I imagine. He is also a grad student and had a 10.12 ERA a year ago in 13 appearances with 21 innings pitched. He walked 16 while striking out 21. Jake Lynch will also be a lefty for Lipscomb this weekend. The senior had a 6.68 ERA a year ago with 25 appearances and 1 start while throwing 33.2 innings of work. He struck out 28 and walked 22.
I expect lefty Rigo Ramos might be a starter for Lipscomb if healthy. The lefty transferred from Bowling Green and started 11 games and had 18 appearances a year ago. He struck out 58 in just 49.1 innings of work, but he walked an eye popping 49 and carried a 7.11 ERA. Seems like this kid could be effectively wild at times.
6'7 lefty Caleb Pica might also be one to look out for. He transfers in from Vol State with some really solid stats that indicate he could be a starter for the Bison. Last year he appeared in 15 games and started 14, throwing 67.2 innings and striking out 90 while walking 54. His ERA was a 3.46 so while he did give up walks, he kept runs from scoring and just gave up 2 home runs.
Davis Rokoske has the pedigree to be a solid pitcher having been at both Miss State and Georgia. However, as far as I can tell the last time he pitched was 2022. That year he made 19 relief appearances for the Bulldogs. However, in January of 2023 he was arrested for felony aggravated assault against a girlfriend and was apparently kicked off the UGA baseball team. Not exactly an article you come across every day, but after a break from baseball he might be someone that finds a role for Lipscomb.
All in all, UK should beat the brakes off this team. Patient at the plate and running all over the bases should translate to a lot of UK runs. I wouldn't anticipate UK pitchers have to stress too much against the Bison hitters as I don't know that they will have a whole lot of pop. Of course, there are a lot of unknowns for both teams, but I don't anticipate Lipscomb having any sort of a standout season given their turnover.
For those unawares, the Lipscomb University is located in Nashville, Tennessee. Lipscomb is a private university with about 5,000 students and they carry the nickname The Bisons while wearing purple and gold. They are a part of the A-Sun conference. They play their home games at Ken Dugan Field, a 1,500 seat stadium that opened in 1991 with natural grass infield and a turf halo behind home plate. Fences go 330 to right and left and 405 to dead center. Lipscomb has been a D1 participant since 2004.
Jeff Forehand returns for the 19th year as their head coach and is 480-503 in his time leading the Bison. Robert Zeigler will be the pitching coach for Lipscomb, it will be his second (I think) season in that role. Prior to that he was Director of Player Development. UK fans might remember Robert Zeigler as he was a pitcher for UK for three seasons prior to transferring to Kent State. I believe this would have been around 2014ish. Johnny Cardenas is also an assistant coaching coming for his first year in the program. Prior to that he was at SFA. Former big leaguer Lucas Duda rounds out their staff as hitting coach.
In 2024 Lipscomb had an RPI of 228 as they went 22-34 and (15-15 in the A-Sun). They won just 2 games out of 17 against Q1 and Q2 opponents. The Bison hit a paltry .264 as a team a year ago while opponents hit .298 against them. Their team ERA wasn't anything pretty to look at either at 6.86. They did seem to be a team with some decent power with a combined 88 home runs with two players hitting 19 and 20. However, it appears both of those guys are gone.
Seems like there will be a lot of new faces for the Bison, as is the new norm in college baseball. It appears that just 2 of their main 9 will be returning for 2025. David Coppedge is a Preseason All A-Sun Selection and hit .313 a year ago. The infielder did hit 10 home runs, but he's prone to striking out, doesn't seem to walk a whole lot, and will not be a huge threat to steal. Looks like a year ago he was 3B and DH at times. Also returning is Parks Bouck (what a name). Bouck played some 2B a year ago hitting .273 with 5 home runs. He also had a good bit more strikeouts than walks (35Ks v 25 walks) and he was 10 of 11 on swiped bags. Tobias Jacob also returns. He played in about half of the games a year ago as a freshman outfielder and as a DH. He hit just .210 in his debut season with 2 home runs while striking out 33 times to just 10 walks. He did have 7 doubles in his 22 hits, so that is a pretty solid number there. Not really sure who else might see time for the Bison this weekend given all the turnover, but anyone returning likely doesn't have any stats that are going to jump off the page. Casey Sunseri transferred from Baylor and is listed as utility guy. Sunseri had just 3 starts last year with the Baylor Bears and hit just .200. So, not sure how the step down in competition will translate for him.
On the mound it appears that Lipscomb returns just 1 of their 3 weekend starters. Jake Poindexter, a transfer from Georgia, started 11 games and appeared in 16 for the Bison. He had a 5.98 ERA in 61.2 innings pitched. He struck out 40 and walked 23. He is a 6'0 righty. Ryan Kutz was also at least a part time starter for them. The 6'1 righty previously from Davidson College is a Grad Student who threw 41.2 innings in 16 appearances and 7 starts striking out 24 and walking 15. Redshirt Sophomore Tanner Lyne has the best hair on the team, but the ERA doesn't go with it. The redshirt sophomore 5'10 righty threw 20.1 innings of work in 2024 but carried an 8.41 ERA striking out 22 and walking 12. He had the third worst BA/a on the team at .348. Joey Mitchell will be one of their lefties this weekend I imagine. He is also a grad student and had a 10.12 ERA a year ago in 13 appearances with 21 innings pitched. He walked 16 while striking out 21. Jake Lynch will also be a lefty for Lipscomb this weekend. The senior had a 6.68 ERA a year ago with 25 appearances and 1 start while throwing 33.2 innings of work. He struck out 28 and walked 22.
I expect lefty Rigo Ramos might be a starter for Lipscomb if healthy. The lefty transferred from Bowling Green and started 11 games and had 18 appearances a year ago. He struck out 58 in just 49.1 innings of work, but he walked an eye popping 49 and carried a 7.11 ERA. Seems like this kid could be effectively wild at times.
6'7 lefty Caleb Pica might also be one to look out for. He transfers in from Vol State with some really solid stats that indicate he could be a starter for the Bison. Last year he appeared in 15 games and started 14, throwing 67.2 innings and striking out 90 while walking 54. His ERA was a 3.46 so while he did give up walks, he kept runs from scoring and just gave up 2 home runs.
Davis Rokoske has the pedigree to be a solid pitcher having been at both Miss State and Georgia. However, as far as I can tell the last time he pitched was 2022. That year he made 19 relief appearances for the Bulldogs. However, in January of 2023 he was arrested for felony aggravated assault against a girlfriend and was apparently kicked off the UGA baseball team. Not exactly an article you come across every day, but after a break from baseball he might be someone that finds a role for Lipscomb.
All in all, UK should beat the brakes off this team. Patient at the plate and running all over the bases should translate to a lot of UK runs. I wouldn't anticipate UK pitchers have to stress too much against the Bison hitters as I don't know that they will have a whole lot of pop. Of course, there are a lot of unknowns for both teams, but I don't anticipate Lipscomb having any sort of a standout season given their turnover.
