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2026 and then: Ken Dugan Field commemorated 35 years ago
Former players stood in a long line along the third-base line in 1991 as Lipscomb formally named its new baseball field for Coach Ken Dugan, honoring the coach who shaped generations of Bison players. Dugan coached at Lipscomb from 1960 to 1996, winning more than 1,000 games and leading the Bisons to NAIA national championships in 1977 and 1979. The prior home for Lipscomb baseball had been Onion Dell, where the Ezell Center now stands. The 35th anniversary anniversary is a reminder of who Dugan was – a coach whose character, faith and compassion shaped Lipscomb baseball as much as his skills did as a coach. For the Dugan family,…
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2025 and then: A half-century later, Bison ace Bo McLaughlin is remembered for MLB signing…and horrific injury
Tucked in a worn brown file deep inside Lipscomb’s athletic archives sits a faded photograph: a young right-handed pitcher in a purple uniform, glove raised, eyes locked onto the catcher. The edges of the image are cracked with age. The name on the back is written in ballpoint pen – Bo McLaughlin, 1970s. Most students walking past the archives have no idea the man in the picture was the first Bison ever to sign with a Major League Baseball team—or that decades later, at 72, he is remembered as much for a terrifying injury that nearly ended his life. McLaughlin played for the Bisons from 1972-1975 and is still considered…