NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Off to a 2-2 start, the Lipscomb baseball team continues home action this weekend hosting the 2016 “Mule Mix Classic” as Miami (OH), Army West Point and Western Michigan come to the Music City.

The weekend slate kicks off at 4 p.m. Friday as the Bisons and Miami-Ohio (1-2) get the round-robin tournament underway at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium. The Redhawks lead the Bisons 1-0 in the all-time series after taking a 9-3 decision in the lone meeting on Feb. 23, 2014 in Nashville.

That contest will feature a matchup of Lipscomb senior left hander Cody Glenn facing junior right hander Brad Schwartz.

Saturday will see the Purple and Gold hit the field at 2 p.m. to take on Army (1-3). Bison sophomore righty Jeffrey Passantino will match up with senior righty Garrison Franklin.

Lipscomb will wrap up the weekend with a noon start time against Western Michigan on Sunday. Sophomore preseason All-Atlantic Sun member Brady Puckett will get the nod on the bump and will face off with senior southpaw Derek Schneider.

Live stats will be available for all three games.

Probable Matchups:

Friday
Lipscomb – Cody Glenn – LHP (0-0, 9.82 ERA, 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 1 K, 2 BB)
Miami – Brad Schwartz – RHP (0-1, 3.18 ERA, 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 2 BB)

Saturday
Lipscomb – Jeffrey Passantino – RHP (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 K, 0 BB)
Army – Garrison Franklin – RHP (0-0, 5.14 ERA, 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 K, 0 BB)

Sunday
Lipscomb – Brady Puckett – RHP (1-0, 2.57 ERA, 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 0 BB)
Western Michigan – Derek Schneider – LHP (0-1, 7.36 ERA, 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 K, 2 BB)

Around the Horn:

• Last year’s Mule Mix Classic was cancelled due to weather.
• The weekend will feature first ever meetings for the Bisons with Army and Western Michigan. 
• Head Coach Jeff Forehand is sitting just three wins shy of his 250th victory in Purple and Gold.
• After taking the series against Eastern Kentucky last week, Forehand is 4-5 in season-opening series at Lipscomb. In 2012 a third game was cancelled and the Bisons split a pair of contests, 1-1.
• Ten Bisons made their Lipscomb debut on opening week: six true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, one redshirt sophomore, one junior and one redshirt senior.
• Lipscomb leads the A-Sun in stolen bases (8), sacrifice hits (4), triples (2) and ranks second in walks (16).
• The Bisons' eight stolen bases are the 29th most in the NCAA, while their four sacrifice bunts are tied for 22nd.
• Having only made three errors on the young season, Lipscomb leads the A-Sun and ranks 55th in the country with a .979 team fielding percentage.
• The Bison pitching staff is second in the conference with 37 K's and 9.51 strikeouts-per-game. 
• Sophomore Michael Gigliotti brings a 36-game on-base streak into Friday.
• Second baseman Lee Solomon is batting .455 after four games, good enough to rank him seventh in the conference. His five walks drawn are good enough for 34th nationally.
• Senior Adam Lee has driven in a team-high five batters. That is the fifth most in the A-Sun. Allan Hooker’s four is tied for sixth.
• Passantino’s 1.29 ERA is tops in the A-Sun among pitchers who have thrown at least seven innings this season. His seven strikeouts are tied for third most.
• Gigliotti, Solomon and Lee are the only Bisons to have reached base in all four games this season.
• Junior transfer Dallas Gibson leads the team with three pitching appearances, all in relief, the eighth most in the nation. 
• Southpaw John Pryor leads the A-Sun with nine punchouts on the year in 5.1 innings. He currently sits 28th in the country averaging 15.19 strikeouts per nine innings. After ringing up six batter in four innings on Tuesday, freshman Zach Shirey is 66th averaging 13.50.
   

 Up Next:

Lipscomb will play a pair of midweek contests this week, as it hosts Middle Tennessee in a return trip on Tuesday at 4 p.m. before traveling north to Western Kentucky Wednesday at 3 p.m.