By BRYAN GRISHAM

CSCC Sports Information Director

                               TIPTON TO GO FROM A COUGAR TO A LION

As the old saying goes, diamonds are a girls best friend. That was the thought on the mind of Cleveland State softball player, Brittany Tipton on Monday afternoon as the Lady Cougar sophomore pitcher put her name on the dotted line and has decided to continue her playing career on the diamond next season across the river in Dayton for Bryan College.

"Brittany has continued to improve over the last year and a half and has put herself in position for this great opportunity at Bryan College," stated Lady Cougar coach Suzanne Bayne. "As a pitcher, she will shoulder a lot of the duty for us this spring and she is the type of pitcher that always wants the ball in her hand. She has worked very hard in the offseason in her trouble areas and put in the time that it takes to improve."

"As a hitter she has made herself into a very tough out," Bayne continued. "She can slap the ball or take it deep. As a true student/athlete, she is just as focused with over a 3.5 GPA and was all-academic for the TCCAA and the NFCA scholar/athlete honor. This says a lot about Brittany as she is able to succeed in the classroom as well as in the field."

Brittany had a 3.78 ERA on the mound while notching nine wins in her freshman year for the Lady Cougars. She also hit a very respectable .267 at the plate with 10 RBI's in only 45 plate appearances.

"I really love it here at Cleveland State," explained Tipton. "I came from a small school in Sale Creek and this wasn't much bigger so they made me feel right at home. I am really excited about going to Bryan and to help start the new program and be a part of that. And too, they have a really good teaching program and that's what I want to be when I graduate. It's close to home too and that always helps."

Leadership and experience are two big things that a coach sometimes looks for and this will be especially true for coach Rocky Stinson as he starts the Bryan College softball program from scratch beginning in the spring of 2011.

"As we start the new softball program here at Bryan, I wanted someone in the circle that had experience and I think that Brittany will help us out right away," stated Stinson. "Cleveland State plays a lot of the teams in our conference and she has done really well against most of them. I think that her experience will help her be a leader on our team and that is very important when you are starting a program.