The 2023 Regular Season has come and gone.  It saw the Flames finish 26-28 overall and 16 and 14 in the ASUN and finishing with an RPI of 92.  They ended up with the #48 toughest schedule overall and the #1 OOC schedule.  The season was a true roller coaster in every sense.  The Flames finished the last 6 games 4 and 2 and will look to ride that success into their last dance in the ASUN tournament.  This year, they know there's only way 1 to stay alive and that's to survive and advance through pool play and take home the championship.  The ASUN has a pool play format that puts the top RPI teams in the top pod to protect the RPI.  Then it's a Hunger games type brawl in the lower pod.  Look at Liberty's RPI from this past weekend to see why this type of set-up was put in place.  They won 2 of 3 at home against Bellarmine and dropped 20 spots.   

There's really 2 ways to win in the post-season.  You can try to slug  your way through the tournament FGCU style or you need your starters to go deep and limit your bullpen exposure.  It's unlikely that Liberty will slug their way their via the longball but they can put up some crooked numbers with some help from the opposition via the walk or error.  

Game 1 : 10 AM - Lipscomb

Liberty will get the party started early against the surprise top seed Lipscomb Bison.  Liberty traveled to Nashville in early April and managed to win the Sunday game to avoid a 3 game sweep in extra innings.  Lipscomb comes in hot having won 9 of their last 10.  They also allowed the fewest runs in the ASUN this year at 298.  Liberty was next at 332.  Liberty was able to save Mikey Tepper to start the all important first game of the tournament.  A win here allows the Flames to go 1 and 1 in the next 2 and move in.  A loss puts the Flames backs to the wall.  The Bison don't hit for a terribly high average but they have 4 guys with 14 to 20 homers.  The key to beating the Bison will be for Tepper to give them 6 or 7 good innings and to keep Willhoite, Kelly, Vergara & Ketchup in the park and to keep them up with nobody on base where you can limit the damage.  

Game 2 : 10 AM Jacksonville - Wednesday 

I don't care what Jacksonville's record is, they always play the Flames tough.  This year they happen to be pretty darn good at 33 and 22 and 17 and 13 in league play.  They managed to win mid-week games against FSU, Florida & Miami so they obviously have some talent.  Jacksonville actually had a negative 4 run differential which is pretty hard to have that kind of winning record.  They come in at 6 and 4 in their last 10.  The Flames didn't face the Dolphins this year so there will be a little unfamiliarity there.  I would think Cooper is likely to go here to give Horn his full rest on Friday with the bye on Thursday.  Jacksonville has a team BA of just .260 but the man to stay away from is Kris Armstrong who had 22 HR's and 65 RBI's to go along with a .301 batting average.  I checked and yes he is using BBCOR bats for those wondering.  Those are some mid 90's type offensive numbers.  Jacksonville has a team ERA of 5.50 as well so there should be some opportunity to score.  They play good defense and appear to be a very opportunistic bunch.  The Flames can't shoot themselves in the foot with walks and errors in this one.  They always hurt but the Dolphins really capitalize on self-inflicted errors. 

Game 3 : 2:30 PM FGCU - Friday 

FGCU is dinger city now instead of Dunk City.  They put up 530 runs which was more than double the 2 last place teams in NAU and Bellarmine.  They had an astonishing plus 162 run differential and finished 38-17 overall and 20-10 in the ASUN.  It still feels a bit disappointing to have that kind of offensive year and not secure the 1 seed.  Of course, FGCU plays in a launching pad that's going to aid there numbers but that's still impressive.  They come in just 5-5 in their last 10 and dropped their last 2.  Liberty won the Friday night game behind Horn before getting overpowered in the Saturday and Sunday games to lose 2 of 3 on the road all the way back in March.  They sport a team BA of .323 and have 6 guys with 14 or more homers headlined by Felix Eldrick who hit a whopping .378 with 23 homers and 73 RBI.  Kinker is a light weight at .373 and 17 homers and 73 RBI's (kidding).  Obviously the Flames will need Horn to try to keep the bats throttled as he did in March to have their best chance.  Their home and road splits really aren't any different at all so it will be interesting to see if they can crush the ball at Deland all week like they do in their home park.  They do have a team ERA just over 6 and therein lies the reason they didn't run away with the ASUN and secure an at large.  Your not going to completely shut a lineup like FGCU down very often so the key is to put up runs early to take the pressure off.  Also the Eagles are average defensively at .967 fielding %.  

The hopes of the Flames are going to ride on Tepper, Horn & Carter.  They will Tepper and Horn to give them length and for Carter to regather the magic of the middle part of the season when he was lights out. 

Notes : Sounds like Moran has been throwing pens but will be unavailable for the tournament.