Turning up the Heat

 

Alright, I know we've all been there the last couple years but the Liberty Baseball is officially back.  The Flames put an explanation point on a 3-1 weekend that saw a road ACC dominating win over in state rival Virginia Tech 11-4 and then taking 2 of 3 from previously unbeaten in CUSA play Jacksonville St.  The Flames have reached a season high #23 in the RPI as of late Sunday night after Sunday's 4-2 win.  Liberty had their proverbial backs to the wall after Friday's night's 8-4 setback to Jacksonville St. that left the Flames 4 games back in the pursuit of 1st place.  Liberty had knocked out Jacksonville State ace Eli Pillsbury after just 3 innings and had their own ace Ben Blair on the mound in cruise control.  Then the 6th inning changed everything as the Gamecocks put up a 5 spot on Blair and the Flames that proved insurmountable.  That moved Jacksonville St. to a 13-0 start in CUSA play which had never been done before.  The series had attracted quite a bit of national attention from 11.7, D1 Baseball (Shotgun Spratling in attendance) and of course D1Baseball's Joe Healey was on the call with me over the weekend.  It felt like it could be eerily similar to the WKU series last year when both teams came in riding high only to see the Tops sweep away the Flames hopes which would end up sending their CUSA season into a tailspin.  This Jacksonville St. team felt to me to be very similar that to WKU team minus the superstar Ryan Wideman.  The momentum had shifted as the Gamecocks had knocked off the Flames ace and really put some separation between them in the standings.  

Liberty gave the ball to Jaxon Lucas vs. the hard throwing Bama bounce back lefty Beau Bryans.  Lucas would turn in arguably his best outing of the year with 5 innings of 1 run ball that stymied the Gamecocks.  Hvidsten would homer and Barone, Jaffe & Swofford all delivered key run scoring knocks before Scilley won the ballgame.  Harrington would come in and shut down Jax State to give Scilley the Flames the chance to walk it off.  Sunday was the all important rubber game which would either leave the Flames 4 games back or 2 and also determine the tiebreaker vs. Jax State.  Liberty had already dropped the tie breaker against Missiouri St. and couldn't afford another tie break loss to a team at the top of the standings.  Zayac and Cash duked it out for 6 + innings despite neither having their best stuff.  Cash broke first and Flames tandem of August/Harrington would dominate the Gamecocks in the final 3 frames.  Liberty's dugout erupted onto the field after the series win as you could see this one meant something not just this year but from last years fiasco as well.  

Liberty had several key developments over the last week that could be game changers for the Flames.  

*Kyle Hvidsten - first and foremost Kyle Hvidsten has been on a tear lately and homered twice over the weekend and made loud contact all weekend long.  The lineup is lengthened substantially if Hvidsten is a factor

*Landon Scilley - Scilley is clearly one of the Flames top 10 players but has struggled to carve out consistent playing time after battling injury to start the year.  Scilley had some big swings in both Saturday & Sunday's ballgames.  

*Jaxon Lucas - Lucas has really upped his game recently.  The Flames like to limit Lucas to 3 or 4 innings but he's started to slip into the Dylan Mathiesen pod role from last year where he can also help the Flames with a couple innings in the key midweek games.  He's going to play a pivotal role in just how far this Flames team can go.

*Tyler August - it was good to see the big guy back dealing today.  He had been off his last couple appearances and hadn't pitched since the 2nd.  The Flames aren't going much of anywhere without August bridging the bullpen.  

*Swofford - Swofford's numbers don't jump off the page at you but he's just a winning player.  Most will remember the big 2 run knock Saturday but Swofford put together really nice at bats all weekend and played an excellent 2B.  He's a steadying presence for the Flames.  

*Fulk - he's making the most of his limited opportunities but in a right handed heavy lineup Fulk is going to continue to get some key PH opportunities for the Flames against RHP.

*Barone - Barone has started to get hot for the Flames and has really put himself up there with Marsh and Jaffe among the teams best hitters.  

What's left to figure out?

*RF - Drumm is really the last of the Flames that were expected to be contributors on the offensive side of things to get it going.  He had a really good Fall with strong exit velo's and had a really good year at Butler last year.  He got off to a slow start and then injured his groin.  Decandido is serviceable in RF but would be better suited at 1B or DH.  Scilley has been DH'ing mostly recently so you wonder if the arm is still barking a bit.  I think the best version of the Flames has Drumm or Scilley in RF and then Decandido/Sorenson in the 1B/DH combo.

*Swink/Mccusker/Potts/ADP - The coaching staff has made a concerted effort to create more depth with the pitching staff.  This group has had varying levels of success this year but the Flames really need at least 2 of these guys to get right for the stretch run.  They're all going to see time out of necessity but you want to tip the trust scale further towards the reliable side.  Blair/Lucas/Zayac/August/Harrington can carry the Flames a long way but this is the group that may ultimately decide if this is a solid 35 win team or a team that can make a Super.  

CUSA Chase

Liberty's play has them clearly in the field as an at large right with an RPI of 23.  A potential regional host is a longshot but still in binocular range.  If the Flames go 5-1 or 4-2 in this next brutal stretch of Duke twice, @ UVA and @ DBU for 3 that thought could become a reality,.  A top 25 ranking is within sight as well.  I think the Flames will be right smack in the middle of teams receiving votes this week.  Liberty has been vanquishing demons left and right this year and will need to do it again against a DBU squad that has dominated Liberty since both teams entered CUSA.  

It's still a 4 way race in CUSA.  I think the Flames have the easiest path left. 

Liberty's most difficult series is this coming weekend at DBU.  Beyond that they have 3 at home verse sub 250 RPI Delaware, home vs underachieving but dangerous La Tech, and on the road against sub 200 NMSU and 170's MTSU.  

Jax has a breather with FIU & NMSU at home before finishing with a bang @ Missiouri State, home vs. KSU & back on the road against DBU to end it. 

Missiouri St has WKU @ La Tech Jax State, NMSU & @ KSU

DBU has Liberty at home, @ FIU La Tech, @ WKU, Jacksonville St. 

If the Flames can manage to take 2/3 on the road at DBU they should be in prime position to finish in the top 2.  They're going to need a little help against Missiouri State since they've already lost the tie break.  If the Flames can get to the regionals they will be a tough out for someone.  They have 5 really good pitchers and 2 aces that really shorten a couple games.  

Only 1 thing is for certain and that's that the Flames are back cooking and right where the program belongs in the hunt for a regional.