Record : 14 - 4
Asun : 2-1
Weekend - Won 2 of 3
Game 1 : North Florida 5 Liberty 2 W - Mckinley NF 2-2, L - Erickson, 0-1. S - Halstead (2)
Game 2: Liberty 11 North Florida 5 W - Gibson LU - 3-0, L Chappell 0-3
Game 3 : Liberty 7 North Florida 5 W Fluharty LU 3-1 L NF Roca 0-3 S Hungate (6)
Liberty traveled to Jacksonville Florida for a 3 game set on the campus of North Florida to kick off the conference portion of the 2022 season. Friday nights game was rained out forcing the Flames into a DH Saturday against the Ospreys. LU ran into a buzzsaw in Mckinley in game 1 who stifled the Flames offense for much of the night. In game 2 Trey Gibson went 5 solid innings for Liberty but the offense woke up led by Stephen Hill who had 3 homers on the day and went 4 for 4 in Game 2. The Flames offense had been in a funk for the most part since the UNC game in the midweek which spanned 5 games. Gulakowski swatted his 3rd homer of the season as his bat started to hit up in game 2 which would be a prelude for the rubber match. HC Scott Jackson inserted true freshman Adrian Mcneal & Ryan Shieh into Game 2 to try to provide a spark for the offense. They combined to go 0 for 8 in that game but both had a key walk. This would move Cam Foster over to SS which was a position he played in high school. The 3rd game is always important but particularly this week for Liberty since they had dropped the midweek game to VCU and the first game of the series. A series loss and 3/4 in the week would be a huge detriment to the RPI which the Flames had worked so hard to get into the top 15. Liberty would fall behind early in game 3 after making 3 very uncharacteristic errors. Alba would be chased after 3 2/3 innings. That would be bad news for North Florida because it meant they would get a dose of Mason Fluharty who has been nails. He would dominate the Ospreys for 3 1/3 scoreless innings and record 6 strikeouts in the process. During this time the Flames would bounce back by adding a run on an HBP. Gulakowski smashed his 4th homer which was a prodigious (outfielder never moved) blow and also had his 8th double while en route to piling up 4 RBI's. Cam Foster was hot all weekend and recorded a 4 hit game and chipped in an RBI. The Flames stuck with Three Hillier as he had loud contact all Fall & Spring and he delivered with his second homer of the year and had 2 RBI's as well. Beamon would come on in the 8th and load the bases immediately before getting 2 quick outs on a fielder choice and line out to short in exchange for a run. The Flames would go to Cade Hungate for a 4 out save and he would deliver to record his 6th save of the year. He may have a shot to beat the program record if he stays on this level.
By the numbers :
#30 - Liberty's RPI standing
# 12 - ASUN conference RPI ranking (31 total)
3-1 - Liberty's record vs Quad 1 teams.
97 - Liberty's SOS (total)
69 - Liberty's Non conference SOS
6 - Cade Hungate saves
.158 - opponents BA against Mason Fluharty
0 - walks issued by Fluharty in 15 and 2/3 innings (28 K's) DOMINANT
23- Gulakowski RBI's to lead the team
1.000 - Liberty's OF fielding % (Keeter, Hillier, Anderson, Orndorff) - Hillier moved to the outfield 2 days before UNC game, Anderson moved from LF to RF right before the season and had never played OF before last year. Orndorff practiced all off season to take over RF before Guy's injury and Keeter is a true freshman.
Takeaways
Liberty got the bats going in games 2 and 3. Hillier has helped to lengthen the lineup but the Flames have been chasing production from the other 2 spots all year. Mcneal, Shieh, Majkowski and Cole Hurtzler could all continue to get opportunities along with Mathieu, Keeter & Lazarro. They don't need the bottom 2 to mash but they do need productive AB's and an OBP in the .275 range would certainly help the cause.
Liberty is yet to get the length of the starters the Flames will need to reach their true potential this year. Historically Liberty would look for 7 to 8 innings from at least of their weekend starters. As noted before the Flames don't need that this year but they need 5 or 6 innings from those guys.
Hillier & Foster are the 2 keys to the lineup. The Flames have been at their best when Foster is driving in runs and spraying the ball around. Hillier adds another lefty bat with some pop that has made good contact. If the Flames are unable to fill out the final 2 spots with consistency much will fall on these 2 to help the top 5 carry the load.
On Deck.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons of the ACC will travel to Lynchburg for a 4 o'clock showdown with Liberty. Liberty won the lone matchup with Wake last year 8 to 4 in Lynchburg. Wake is 16-4 and #17 in the RPI and 3-3 in the ACC. Wake moved up 30 spots in the RPI this weekend after smashing #10 Georgia Tech on the road in Friday and Saturday's game before falling in the rubber match. Wake put up 27 runs Saturday, yes 27 runs. It's the 3rd time this year they have scored over 20 runs and 8th time they have been in double digits. They are 2-2 on the road so far and are 3-3 against Quad 1 opponents. They have crushed quad 4 opponents going 10 and 0 while hammering the baseball. There non conference SOS is at 197 thus far. This is another big time P5 midweek matchup. Get the word out to pack the park as it's another beautiful day (73 degrees).
Brent
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