Mr. Spock says all we need to know about Liberty getting swept by the Beach Chickens–PAIN! (Bonus points to anyone who saw this Star Trek episode when it originally aired in 1967.) The high hopes that Flames Nation had coming into this series against a hated rival (sports hate, that is) were dashed by the home plate umpire in the first game of the series and a 7-run explosion by CCU in the 8th inning of the second game.
I am not going to recount the one-sided calls by the umps in the 9th inning of the first game, nor am I going to go into that 7-run 8th inning in the second game. We might even pretend that the third game didn’t even happen because of the PAIN!
As bad as the series ended, there were some good things to point out. So, instead of reliving the PAIN! let’s just talk about what went right for Liberty:
- Liberty may have been swept with a couple of the games being blowouts, but Liberty was able to hang with CCU throughout the first two games. In the first game, Liberty jumped out to a 6-1 lead and maintained that lead until the bottom of the 9th. In the second game, Liberty again jumped out to a good-sized lead and maintained that lead until CCU tied it in the 7th. In total, the Flames led 12 of the innings in the two games with two innings tied and Liberty trailing in four innings.
- LHP Nick Moran pitched well in the first game. His first start at Duke was a little unsteady, but this one was much better. He only gave up a couple of runs until the 5th inning when an error extended the inning and CCU took advantage. He struck out 7 and held CCU in the yard in the band box they call a baseball field.
- It was very good to see RHP Cole Hertzler back on the mound a week after he left a start against Hofstra with an injury. He had some trouble shaking off the rust, and he wasn’t helped by the bad calls that I promised not to talk about. The important thing is that he was throwing again.
- With Hertzler being back, Coach Jackson will have a normal rotation next weekend for ECU. I would expect Liberty to run Hertzler, Garrett Horn, and Moran out to the mound against the #11 team in the country.
- Speaking of Horn, he had his second strong start in a row. He ran into trouble in the 3rd with a bases-loaded, no out jam. He walked in a run but then struck out the next three batters. He also had trouble in the 5th with runners on 2nd and 3rd with not outs. Again, he shoved back and only gave up a single run. I love the fight from Horn.
- RHP Ryan Butler had perhaps the best outing in the series. He relieved Bryce Dolby in the third game of the series and pitched three scoreless and hitless innings. Aside from Spencer Williams who pitched only 0.1 innings, Butler is the only Flames pitcher to keep CCU off of the scoreboard.
- 3B Cameron Foster, who led the Flames in HRs and RBIs last season, hit two home runs in the first game. It was Foster’s third career two home run game. His first was in 2022 at FGCU in a 23-3 Flames blowout.
- 2B Aidan Sweatt was in a funk in the Hofstra series, but he busted out of that funk in a big way on the road this week. He is hitting .400 (6 for 15) with two HRs and two doubles in four games.
- 1B Brian McClellin also hit two HRs this weekend. One would think that after a couple home runs the CCU announcer might figure out his name, but one would be wrong. He decided Brian’s last name is “McClelland,” and he called him that all weekend.
- SS Tanner Marsh went 4 for 9 in the series. Amazingly for someone on base that much, he wasn’t involved in much scoring. He only scored one run and didn’t have an RBI.
Next up is College of Charleston. Closing out the road trip with a win against a quality program would be a huge boost for this team heading into the ECU series.
Speaking of the ECU series, the weather does not look good right now. Friday and Sunday look to be in the mid-50s, but Saturday shows a high in the mid-40s with 1.50 inches of rain during the day. Might end up with another Sunday double header.
