- Cole Hertzler was dominant through his first four innings. I missed the first inning but heard he had a couple strikeouts. After I arrived, he had four straight strikeouts by striking out the side in the 2nd and the first batter of the 3rd. He also struck out the 3rd batter in the 3rd for 5 strikeouts in six batters. His fastball was up to 94 while his offspeed pitches were sitting low 80s. He had multiple strike outs with his changeup. He looks ready heading into the first series next weekend.
- Making the other start, Garrett Horn was up and down. He gave up a homerun in the 1st to Camden Troyer and another in the 2nd to Three Hillier. In Troyer’s second at-bat, Horn had a fastball get away from him, and the ball hit Troyer in the helmet. Troyer got up quickly and appeared unscathed. As you can see in the photo, it was 92 mph and the ricochet had an EV of 40 mph. It shook Horn up, and when he got back on the mound, Horn checked in with his teammate at 1st to make sure Troyer was fine.
- It was good to see the bats showing up with some power. Troyer drove his homerun out to left center to the left of the batter’s eye. Nice to see Hillier with blast to right center over the 371 marker in a lefty-on-lefty at-bat.
- Hillier doesn’t look like he will be playing in the field any time soon, but he can obviously hit. Getting him back to his 2022 form would be huge for this team in the DH slot. In his second full year playing in 2023, he suffered a bit of a “sophomore” slump. If he can return to anything close to his 2022 slash line of .309/.414/.478/.892, Liberty will benefit greatly.
- RHP Ben Roberts has reduced his wildness, but it isn’t completely gone. Opposing batters would be well-advised not to dig in too much against his 97 mph fastball. He had a three up, three down inning, but not in a manner that you might expect. He got the first batter out after being down 3-0 in the count that eventually went to a 3-2 count. The second batter walked on 4 or 5 pitches. Then, he induced a weak grounder for a 6-4-3 double play.
- Speaking of defense, I may harp on it too much, but the defense up the middle is going to be improved this year. 2B Aidan Sweatt turned a double play by himself in addition to the 6-4-3 with SS Tanner Marsh.
- RHP Graham Edwards made the play of the day on a high chopper from 1B Easton Amundson in front of the plate. He caught the ball while on his rear before the second bounce and threw Amundson out in a close play. Not sure if he fell or slid, but either way, throwing a guy out at 1B while sitting on the ground was impressive.
- 3B Cam Foster made another great play on a rocket to his right. He was playing in, and the ball kind of short hopped him by his right foot. He backhanded the ball and made a hard, accurate throw to 1B.
- RHP Ben Blair made another appearance, but it did not go as well as the other two I saw in which he was exceptional for a freshman. He might have taken a couple lumps today, but he has a bright future. It makes me proud to see LCA kids competing.
- Opening weekend February 16-18 at home against Quinnipiac is quickly approaching. The following Tuesday Liberty will play #12 Duke in Durham. Bundle up because all of those games are going to be cold.
