#Risewithus

Liberty : 17-18 Home : 8-6 Away: 9-12 Q1: 3-9 Q2: 1-2 Q3: 3-3 Q4: 10-4 RPI : 65 SOS :33 Non Conference SOS : 4th ASUN : 8-7 Liberty went 3 and 1 on the road with a win over VT and then took 2 of 3 from KSU on the weekend.  Friday was a wild game that saw Horn, Carter & Hertzler stuff the Owl offense.  Keeter had a big stolen base attempt that he probably should have been tagged out but the catcher made a bad throw and scored the tying run or else the Flames likely drop the opener.  Credit to Keeter for forcing the issue.  Foster made an incredible play late in the game and then backed it up with the bat as well.   Gainey went 6 1/3 Saturday allowing 3 earned for a QS but Liberty was only able to muster 5 hits.  The rubber match saw Mikey Tepper pitch well for the 3rd straight game as he went 5 2/3 and allowed just 1 ER.  Garrett & Germanowski finished it off.  Hillier had a homer and Kepley had 3 hits and 3 RBIs.   On Deck...

Saturday was a beautiful day in Lynchburg.  The setup in the end zone for kid's and an on field view of the action very well received.  Overall the experience felt much more fan friendly than the last couple years.  Mid Morning and cool weather can be a bad combo which is what we had last year.  No way to be sure of this but it felt like around 5,000 folks in attendance overall.   Defense For at least the 2nd and probably even the 3rd year in a row it seems like the defense is significantly ahead of the offense.  In some ways that's a positive because I have no doubt Chadwell and Co. will put up points just like they have done everywhere they've been.  It may take a year or 2 to get the talent and scheme fits that they need but I'd always take the under on that bet on when that will happen.  Defensively, the Flames still looked to be big, fast, and physical even with all the defections and coaching change.  If there was one concern with ...

Liberty : 15-17 Home : 8-6 Away: 7-11 Q1: 2-8 Q2: 2-3 Q3: 3-3 Q4: 8-3 RPI : 75 SOS :38 Non Conference SOS : 9th ASUN : 6-6 Liberty picked up a big 7 to 3 win over Virginia Tech.  Tech came in at 18-11 and 13-5 at home sat at number 41 in the RPI before the game.  Liberty pitching turned in another great performance.  Trey Cooper got the start and his first collegiate win while going 2 innings and allowing just 1 unearned run.  Trey Carter continued his hot streak and pitched 2 scoreless innings to lower his ERA to a season low 3.65.  David Erickson followed Carter and went 2 innings and allowed 1 earned run.  Cole Garrett had the 7th and allowed a monster solo shot to start the inning but then settled in and shut the Hokies down 1 2 3 after.  Ty Germanowski came on and pitched a scoreless 8th while touching 95 and allowing just a walk.  Finally, Cole Hertzler came in and slammed the door in the 9th to secure the win.  The Flames pitching was ...

Liberty : 12-15 Home : 6-4 Away: 5-9 Q1: 2-9 Q2: 1-1 Q3: 2-2 Q4: 7-3 RPI : 86 SOS : 48 ASUN : 4-5 Liberty lost 2 of 3 over the weekend at Lipscomb. Liberty lost a pair of 1 run ballgames on Friday & Saturday before bouncing back to salvage game 3 9 to 4 behind 6 2/3 from Tepper to go along with 13 strikeouts.  Mikey Tepper and Trey Carter both turned in stellar outings over the weekend.  Liberty's pitching staff may be turning the corner a bit as both Erickson & Edwards are coming off solid outings as well over the past couple weeks.  Freshman Brayden Horton has forced his way into the lineup and now leads the team in Batting Average at .319 and RBI's with 18 in just 47 at bats.  Jaylen Guy is hitting .295 with a homer and 13 RBI's in his best season with Liberty as well.   The thought of an at large bid is on real life support for the 23 Flames.  Liberty will need to make a serious run the next couple weeks or they will be relegated to have to...

Liberty : 11-13 Home : 6-4 Away: 5-9 Q1: 2-9 Q2: 1-0 Q3: 0-0 Q4: 6-2 RPI : 74 SOS : 32 ASUN : 3-3 Liberty went 2-2 on their 4 game homestand in taking 2 of 3 from Austin Peay and losing the midweek re-match against Duke 7 to 3.  Friday night was all Liberty in a run rule 12 to 1 win behind yet another strong outing from ace Garrett Horn.  Saturday would see the Flames fall in a slow pitch softball slugfest type game 18 to 15 in one of the more frustrating losses of the season.  Liberty would open a big lead before falling behind and then pulling close again in the 8th.  Sunday was the best game of the series and saw the Flames fight back late to win on a walk off to take the series.  Liberty got out to an early lead on a Brayden Horton 2 out 2 run single.  But after the 3rd inning Liberty's offense went silent and Duke did just enough to win.   Despite the Flames continued struggles they continue to sit at 64 in the RPI.  However, at some poi...

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 Norf...

Liberty : 7-5 Home: 4-1 Away: 3-4 Q1: 0-3 Q2: Q3: Q4: 7-2 RPI : 125 SOS : 169 Liberty rolled over VCU in the midweek matchup in Lynchburg to improve to 3 and 0 in the midweek and 7 and 5 overall.  Garret Gainey turned in another great outing with 6 IP while allowing no earned runs and striking out a career high 8 batters.  Hudson, Germ & Hertzler would each pitch 1 inning to finish out the game.  Troyer had 3 hits and 2 RBI and Cole Hertzler had a big time ringing 2 run double into the RF corner.  Liberty also took 2 of 3 from Bryant at home over the weekend.   The Flames have found their rotation with Horn, Moran, Tepper & Gainey.  The bullpen has 5 guys with an ERA under 2.70 and still several other guys that have been key pieces in the past like Erickson, Carter & Beamon that have also shown they can succeed at this level.  Butler, Cooper & Edwards can be key pieces as well.  This staff continues to show it's potential dept...