Liberty will kick off the 2024 season by welcoming in Quinnipiac from the MAAC. The Bobcats will make their way down to Lynchburg coming off a 30-26 season that saw them go 13-17 on the road and finish #203 in the RPI. They went 1 and 12 against Quad 1 2 and 3 level teams. They are a northern team that's obviously got to deal with limited outdoor practice time with the weather so they can sometimes start slow but they're a pretty scrappy program that will usually keep non-conference games competitive. They finished in 8th place last year.
They place 3 players on the pre-season All MAAC team including catcher Keegan O'Connor who had big time power and stats at .345 with 13 homers and 60 RBI's. 3B Sebastian Miller hit .311 with 18 HR's and 54 RBI's. RH SP Mason Ulish made the team despite a 5+ ERA in 2023 over 61 Innings. Bobcats are expecting big things from this young man. Flames will need to pitch carefully to O"connor and Miller and try to limit the traffic on the bases. All 3 games will air on ESPN plus and of course on the radio with Nick Pierce who's back for another years. Depending upon the publication they are picked upper to middle of the pack this year in the MAAC.
After that Liberty will head down to Durham to take on the Duke Blue Devils whom have become a familiar opponent on the Flames schedule the last decade. The Blue Devils had another great season at 39-24 and made it all the way to the Super Regional final where they lost the deciding game to UVA after taking the opener. The Flames split the season series with the Devils and have generally won at about a .700 clip against them including 2 convincing wins in the Knoxville regional a few years back. Duke is picked to finish 3rd in the ACC Coastal division behind UVA and UNC. RP Fran Oschell made the All ACC preseason team as a relief pitcher and SP Jonathan Santucci made the team as a SP> Jameson Tallon made 3rd team as a reliever (no not James Tallion). The Devils appear in the Top 25 in all major preseason polls heading into the 24 season and are as high as 12th (D1 Baseball). Very likely to see a bevy of the Duke arms yet again in the midweek tilt. Alex Stone is key returning hitter for a lineup that lost 7 starters as he hit .315 with with 17 HR"s and 62 RBI's from behind the plate. Duke will look to ride one of the highest rated returning bullpens in the nation and have previously utilized openers quite a bit. No matter how you slice it it will be a tough early road test and RPI booster opportunity for the Flames against a team they've handled recently. Liberty won't want to be trailing late.
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