Another day, another blow out win. Other than Graham Edwards struggling at the end in 38 degree weather with a stiff wind, Liberty continued rolling. The journey of a thousand miles (1,162 to Charles Schwab Field to be exact) began with a single step on Friday. It continued today with another one.
Pitching
LHP Garrett Horn took the mound for the first time this season, and the results were a mixed bag. Through three innings, he was pitching a perfect game with 6 of 9 outs by strike out, 5 of them swinging strike outs. He labored through the 4th and 5th innings giving up 3 runs. Some of that is to be expected in a first start, especially one with temperatures in the lower 40s with blustery wind. He did throw a bunch of pitches in the first three innings, and all starters are still stretching out to a full workload at this point in the season.
The relief pitching from Garrett McLaughlin, Ben Blair, Cale Bolton, Josh Swink, and Spencer Williams was outstanding. In 3.2 IP, they gave up 1 hit, 4 BB, and 0 R. They struck out three.
Unfortunately, Graham Edwards struggled in the 9th giving up 4 runs in 0.2 IP. He was perhaps the best pitcher out of the bullpen last year at the end of the season. He is sure to bounce back.
Hitting
Liberty scored at least a run in 8 innings on their way to the 16 runs. The top three in the lineup had a day. They had a BIG day.
Between Kane Kepley, Aidan Sweatt, and Noah Rabon, the trio went 9-12 with 7 runs, 10 RBI, 3 BB, 4 doubles, and only 1 K. Rabon was the only one to steal a base, but all three were taking extra bases every time the ball was put in play.
So far this season, Kepley has scored 6 runs out of Liberty’s 26 total runs. That’s 23% of all runs so far.
The bottom of the order also had a very nice day. 1B Brian McClellin went 2-2 with 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, and a double. C Macaddin Dye went 2-4 with 2 R, 1 RBI, and 1 BB. SS Tanner Marsh 3-5 with 1 R, 2 RBI, and 2 doubles. All three are newcomers with Dye and Marsh being freshmen.
3B Cam Foster “only” had a 1-5 day with 2 R, 1 RBI, and a double. While he did not put up gaudy numbers like others today, he once again avoided any strike outs. If he keeps this up when Liberty faces better pitching, he will have gaudy numbers for the whole season.
Defense
Through the first two games last season, Liberty had two errors, which foreshadowed a down year defensively for the Flames. So far this season, Liberty has played error free largely due to Marsh and Sweatt playing outstanding defense up the middle. Marsh knocked a ball down deep in the hole running away from the infield. I would have loved to see him glove the ball and test his arm strength in the toughest throw a shortstop makes.
Foster has played stellar defense at 3B so far although he did bobble a tailor-made 5-4-3 double play. He fielded it cleanly but couldn’t get a grip on the ball for the throw to 2nd. He did calmly grab the ball and throw the batter out at 1st, so there was no error on the play.
The outfield hasn’t been tested too much other than the ball Rabon almost snagged on Friday night. Today, Kepley did make a very nice catch on a hard hit ball straight over his head. The wind was blowing strongly from left to right, so the ball was moving all over the place. Kepley had no trouble pulling it in though.
Next Game
Liberty and Quinnipiac face off for the 3rd and final game of the series. The Flames are looking for the sweep and sending Bryce Dolby to the mound for his first start as a Flame.
