Record : 17-9
ASUN : 4-5
RPI : 53
Last 10 : 5-5
Game 1 : Jacksonville 6 -1
Game 2 : Liberty 6-2
Game 3: Jacksonville 11-7
Liberty lost it's second consecutive ASUN series for the first time in a long time. Jacksonville has become a difficult place to play for the Flames. This series dropped their record to just 2-6 in Jacksonville including 2 costly losses in the ASUN tournament last year. Liberty is just 3 and 7 against Jacksonville since arriving in the ASUN granted almost all of those are road games or ASUN tourney games in Jacksonville or in the state of Florida. Liberty has had trouble putting all 3 phases of the game together lately. The coaching staff turned the rotation upside down this past week looking for some stronger starts with mixed results. Garrett Horn looked the part on Friday night as he went 4 1/3 and punched out 7 Dolphin hitters. Horn will need another week or 2 to build up his stamina but he looks like Liberty's best bet to go 7 innings consistently. Unfortunately the offense was stifled by Mason Adams in Game 1. Game 2 was Trey Carters first career start (was scheduled to start against Wake at the end of last year before the game was cancelled). Carter was solid but the Flames knew these guys weren't completely stretched out yet and would need a heavy dose of the pen. Fluharty was dominant again out of the pen with 3 scoreless innings and 8 punch-out's. Liberty played tight Sunday in a sloppy game both ways and made 3 costly errors and another mental error on bunt coverages in the 8th that allowed 2 big innings in the 5th and 8th in which Jacksonville scored 10 of their 11 runs.
What happened?
This question continues to come up after such a scorching start that had Liberty reached as high as 12th in the polls and 6th in the RPI with 3 top 25 wins. It's hard to put a finger on it exactly but it's been a little bit of everything. Starting pitching has definitely struggled more than any Liberty team I can remember. Thankfully the bullpen has been dominant for much of the year. The game has changed and you don't want the opponent to get a 3rd look on the same pitcher but you need at least 5 or 6 innings and some clean starts and during these struggles neither of those have come easy. Defensively, early on it looked like Scott Jackson & co. had somehow put together a team that would backup last year's absurd defensive effort. Recently, the Flames defense has come back down to earth at .974 overall and most of those errors have come in the last 3 weeks. Offensively, the Flames have had a lot of traffic most games they have just struggled to get the big clutch hits. The longball has dried up a bit as well some of which is caused by weather or playing in pitching parks. Also, a #12 national ranking put the bullseye squarely on the Flames back. Baseball is very much a mental game and I could empathize with the players and you could almost feel it becoming a chore to defend that mantle. Quickly enough the fun and swagger had faded a little bit. These are growing pains in a program. The hunter is a fun role to play and Liberty plays it very well. Baseball and Softball have wore out the power 5 programs in the last few years. The fan base gets up for the names and so does the team. Then, a super good mid major program like Campbell or Kennesaw State comes to town and it's not quite the same buzz. Learning to handle that bullseye and pressure and keep that same intensity against every team is something that's not easy. There are 60 plus games in College Baseball and it's hard to stay up.
Most importantly, I said it last week and I'll say it again. The same team that raced out to that hot start still resides in Lynchburg, VA. The talent is still right there. The Flames are a little dazed right now but there's too much talent on that roster to stay down.
Where do we stand?
The potential regional host opportunity is probably gone now but other than that the Flames still have everything to play for. Sitting at #53 in the RPI they are right in the mix for an at large should they not win the ASUN. They have marquee wins with more opportunities coming. If the season ended today I think Liberty would be in as a 3 seed again as an at large. One area that's not talked about much is how much better ASUN baseball is most other sports. There are 5 programs in the ASUN that are legitimate top 100 programs nationally or right around that area. The Florida teams and Kennesaw State recruits the talent rich area's of Georgia and Florida and those players/teams can practice year round and most have solid to excellent facilities. Look at the postseason success as well that the ASUN has had and the elite MLB players like Chris Sale, Jacob Degrom & Corey Kluber that the ASUN has produced. It's not a league you can just show up and roll over. FGCU & Kennesaw State are really good and the Flames are going to have figure it out quickly to stay in this race because those 2 teams are really good this year. Thankfully, Liberty is in the East and even setting at 4 and 5 in ASUN play Liberty is at #53 in the RPI. Can you imagine if Liberty was 4 and 5 in the ASUN in MBB? They would be ranked around #200, granted Liberty has 4 big P5 wins on the resume as well but the struggles have come in ASUN play and the Flames have dropped just 47 spots from their peak but that's a testament to the strength of the East.
What's next?
It's not getting any easier for Liberty. The Flames will head up 29 to Charlottesville to face the white hot #3 Cavaliers. This is the best UVA team in a number of years. Liberty pounded UVA in Lynchburg last year and UVA was around .500 a long time before getting hot and making the CWS. They appear to have carried that momentum into this year and more. Then Liberty comes home to face FGCU for 3 who is 20 and 8 and #63 in the RPI. Then the face VT who is 17 and 7 and #41 in the RPI at home in a midweek tilt. Next up the Flames head down to Georgia for 3 against 18 and 9 Kennesaw State who is 11 and 2 at home #13 in the RPI.
Yes, that's right the Flames next 8 games are all 63 or higher in the RPI. Obviously, the Flames will need to play much better to hang with the bump in competition but maybe returning to the hunter role is just what the Dr. ordered for Liberty. The next 2 weeks will tell us a lot about the Flames and go a long way toward deciding where the maze will lead for the 2022 season.
Hope to see everyone out at the park this weekend and then back for the midweek vs VT. Let's make it a huge home field advantage for the good guys this week. Watching the Southern Miss and La Tech series over the weekend that saw 16k fans in attendance showed us again that mid major power houses can have some big time crowds that alter the game.
#Risewithus
Brent
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