Liberty : 9-11

Home: 4-2

Away: 5-9

Q1: 2-9

Q2: 1-0

Q3: 0-0

Q4: 6-2

RPI : 74

SOS : 32

Liberty came limping into Norfolk after a really tough 2 week stretch that saw the Flames drop 2 of 3 at and ASUN rival FGCU,  getting battered by top 10 Wake Forest at home and getting swept by #12 ECU on the road.  They left feeling a lot more confident about what the future holds.  Liberty has played very uncharacteristic baseball to start the year but also has played an incredibly tough schedule that featured 11 of the first 20 games against Quad 1 teams, almost all of which were on the road.  Over the past couple weeks Liberty had struggled to get quality starts and when they did the bullpen would falter.  The infield defense had not been up to Liberty standards all year and had cost the Flames several wins.  Finally, the hitting had been up and down and had been searching for consistent production in several positions.  However, Liberty erased all of that in Norfolk Wednesday in what looked like a typical Scott Jackson coached Liberty win against a quality opponent.  Good Pitching, mostly solid defense, patience at the plate and timely hitting.  The Flames shook up the rotation by moving veteran David Erickson who had been showing signs of breaking out of his near year long slump into the midweek starter role.  They also inserted freshman Kane Kepley and Brayden Horton into the lineup over the last few games as they continue to look for a spark.  Horton has swung the bat well really all fall and Spring and has forced his way into the lineup.  Kepley has played great defense and has plus speed and found his way into the lineup as well.  Erickson and Carter would steal the show while combining for a complete game effort to hold a top 5 offense in virtually all categories and 10.8 runs per game to just 5 runs.  They combined for 14 punchouts and scattered 7 hits.  One of if not the best pitching performance anybody has had all year against that lineup.  Jaylen Guy (to nobody's surprise) made an incredible catch that would double off a runner as well that could have opened the flood gates.  He also stayed hot at the plate with a key double that set up the initial scoring and had an HBP as well.  Troyer had 2 hits and Keeter and Lazzaro had a hit and 2 RBI a piece.  Liberty's lineup forced the midweek ODU starters to throw strikes and then capitalized with clutch hitting with RISP.  This particular lineup doesn't feature a lot of power but they kept the pressure on the ODU pitchers to throw strikes and had just enough hits to make it hurt.  

On deck.

Austin Peay comes to town for a pivotal 3 game set with Liberty.  They're currently 9 and 12 but they are 7 and 3 in their last 10.  They're also just 2 and 8 on the road.  This is Peay's first year in the ASUN and Coach Fanning has done a nice job adding players in the portal to make the program competitive.  They sit at #182 in the RPI and 7 of their 12 losses were on the road against Vanderbilt, DBU & Oklahoma State.  So, this is a series the Flames fully need and expect to win and possibly sweep but as usual in ASUN baseball they will have to show up and perform.  Liberty will feel good about getting another win with Garrett Horn going on Friday.  He's been great all year and Liberty will hope to stretch him out to 6 or 7 innings beginning this weekend.  

Turn the season?

The ODU win is the type of win that can turn the season.  Liberty is a proud program that has had a lot of success over the years and fully expected to win some of the games against ECU & Southern Miss.  It's tough to win on the road at all but especially against top opposition.  Liberty has also been great in the midweek as they sit at 4 and 1.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the weekend rotation.  Obviously Horn is locked into Friday night but Moran and Tepper have struggled a bit although the defense has let them down as well.  This is a pivotal series for Liberty to turn this thing around and get back over .500.  The fact that the Flames are sitting at 74 in the RPI when they are 9 and 11 tells you how strong the schedule they have played is.  Liberty still has 2 games with #2 UVA, 2 with VT, and 1 each with Duke, ODU & Wake left on the schedule plus 3 with ASUN rival KSU.  So plenty of high RPI opportunities remain and the schedule also softens a bit that should allow the Flames to make a real run to keep that 30 win season streak alive and possibly get into the 35 win range if they can get hot.  In all honestly, tonight was the first time Liberty has looked like itself all year.  Pitch it, catch it and make the opposition throw strikes, get hit and put pressure on the defense and fill in with timely hitting.  That type of ball has been successful for the Flames and it was awesome to see it come back to life.