Let me preface this post by stating I have no inside information about what the Liberty baseball projected lineup will be, just observations from the scrimmages. Unfortunately, there are going to be some good players looking for playing time this season. Last year, Liberty lost a large amount of 2022 production from players like Aaron Anderson, Brady Gulakowski, Derek Orndorff, and Logan Mathieu. Coach Scott Jackson brought in several transfers, who just did not work out as expected. While it wasn’t great for the team in 2023, it worked out well in that it gave freshmen Kane Kepley, Todd Hudson, Brayden Horton, and John Simmons playing time and experience that they probably wouldn’t have received otherwise.
Also keep in mind that the lineup in the first game of the season in college baseball rarely is the same as the one that finishes the season. In 2022, Three Hillier hit his way into the lineup. The whole infield other than Logan Mathieu changed multiple times. In 2023, Kepley did not get a start until the 10th game of the season, and Horton did not break into the starting lineup until the 14th game. And again the infield changed multiple times aside from Cam Foster locking down third base.
All of that said, here is what I believe the Liberty baseball projected lineup is based largely on the Feb. 11 scrimmage:
Lineup
- CF Kane Kepley
- 2B Aidan Sweatt
- LF Noah Rabon
- RF Camden Troyer
- 3B Cam Foster
- DH Three Hillier
- C Mac/Mc
- 1B Easton Amundson
- SS Tanner Marsh
Rotation
- Garrett Horn
- Cole Hertzler
- Nick Moran
- Todd Hudson/Ryan Butler/Bryce Dolby
Back-end of the bullpen
- Trey Carter
- Trey Cooper
- Graham Edwards
Position breakdown
CF
Of all the positions and spots in the lineup, I am the surest of this one. Kane Kepley ended the season batting .310/.457/.432/.889 with 39 BB, 22 K, and 17 SBs. Of his 48 hits, 13 were for extra bases. He added some power in summer ball. Look for a huge season from Kepley.
RF
Camden Troyer had a hot start to the season with 3 HRs in the first eight games. He hit one HR the rest of the season (4/29/23 against Stetson). Over the course of the season, he hit .256/.370/.395/.765 with 22 extra base hits. He played plus-defense in RF with no errors. I could see him batting anywhere from 3rd through 8th. In the Feb. 11 scrimmage, he batted cleanup, so I put him there. Troyer should improve across the board with another year of experience.
LF
Noah Rabon transferred in from USC Upstate where he had very good years in 2021 and 2022 with an .848 and .854 OPS, respectively. In 2022, he had 8 HRs in 57 games. Last year, he only played 32 games with a .701 OPS and no HRs. I’m guessing an injury hampered his season. Regardless, he has speed and lots of it with 17 SBs in 2022 and 16 SBs in 2023, which again was half of a season. If he gets back to his 2022 form with 8+ HRs and 20+ SBs, it will be huge for Liberty’s production that was short on both HRs and SBs last year. I think he will be hitting in the middle of the lineup or higher. He was hitting 3rd in the last scrimmage.
OF Backups
Nathan Keeter has played mostly 2B over the last two years, but he is very adept in CF. In the fall and spring, he has played very good defense and added some power. Last year, he hit 2 HRs…in the same game. He is a player who will be searching for ABs and he can fill any hole in the OF or at 2B if necessary.
Todd Hudson has seen some time in OF in the spring. He hits the ball HARD including 110 mph in the last scrimmage. To put that in perspective, there were two balls hit harder in the 2023 MLB draft combine. He can play any OF position, but he would more than likely be a backup for the corner OFs with Keeter being the backup for CF.
Three Hillier played a whole lot of LF over the past two season (although he played more C in 2023). The only question with him is when he can throw again. I’m not sure what injury he may have, but he hasn’t been throwing in the spring. He has been hitting though, so he will likely be limited to DH and pinch hitting for the time being.
1B
Easton Amundson transferred to Liberty from Lower Columbia College in Washington where he hit .314/.404/.562/.966 with 10 HRs, 26 BB, and 26 K. He had a .989 fielding percentage with only 4 errors. He also added 7 HRs in summer ball in 2023. He would be a welcome source of power if it translates to D1 baseball.
2B
Last year at North Florida, Aidan Sweatt batted .320/.418/.424/.842 with 32 BB, 20 K, and 16 SB. He is a true 2B and plays outstanding defense. Aside from Kepley, I am the most sure of Sweatt’s spot in the lineup. He and Kepley will form a 1-2 punch that should stress opposing pitchers and defenses with their OBP and speed.
3B
Cam Foster led the team with 12 HRs last year. He batted .272/.374/.512/.886 with 12 doubles, 1 triple, 33 BB, and 64 K. He made improvements across the board from 2022 to 2023. In the first half of 2023, he had 45 K and 5 HR. In the second half, he had 19 K and 7 HR. If his second half form carries over to this season, 15+ HRs is a definite possibility. With Kepley, Sweatt, and Rabon setting the table for Foster, he will have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs.
SS
Tanner Marsh is the first of the true freshmen who will be very involved from the start of the season. He had a gaudy batting line of .570/.638/1.063/1.701 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, and 8 HRs in 79 ABs last year as a high school senior. It remains to be seen how this will translate into D1 baseball. He will probably have some growing pains, but his fielding is smooth and slick. He has the talent to be a four-year starter at the position. If you haven’t noticed a common theme here, he has real speed like the top of the lineup. If he bats at the bottom of the order, he could be another lead-off type hitter when he leads off innings.
C
*Edit: Just listened to the Flames Central Podcast and Coach Jackson stated that Macaddin Dye will start at catcher.* Your guess is as good as mine between Macaddin Dye and Jack McMullan. To my eye, untrained in the nuances of the tools of ignorance, I haven’t seen much difference in the two, but I only see a few innings here and there. Since they are the only healthy catchers on the roster, one will draw the first start, but I have a feeling they will both see time at catcher. On the horizon, though, is Brayden Horton. He caught a complete game on Sunday, and he was able to throw. He has not been hitting, however. Once healthy, Horton and his bat will find their way into the lineup.
DH
I have no idea who will be the DH. Three Hillier has hit well in the scrimmages that I have seen, but this one is wide open and may well be affected by the small travel roster since he cannot play the field for the time being. Hudson is also a candidate here considering how hard he hits the ball. Once healthy, Horton is another candidate for this slot.
IF Backups
John Simmons is the jack-of-all-trades backup. He played 2B and 3B last season and looks to be the primary backup at those positions. Last season, he struggled at the plate for much of the season, but in the ASUN tournament, he went 5-13 with 6 R, 9 RBI, 2 doubles, and 2 HRs in 4 games.
Brian McClellin played his freshman year at Cal and transferred San Joaquin Delta College where he hit .358/.469/.550/1.018 with 16 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 HRs for his sophomore year. He has played SS in the scrimmages, but lately he’s been playing 1B and not throwing a ton. When healthy, he looks to be the primary backup at SS, and I’m sure he can play other infield positions as well.
Sophomore Joe Waters has played throughout the scrimmages. He redshirted his first two years at Liberty, so he is a bit of an unknown. He saw time around the infield in the scrimmages and even had some base knocks.
Rotation
Friday starter: LHP Garrett Horn is the #1 pitcher for this staff. He had a stellar freshman year, but it was derailed with a shoulder injury. His sophomore season saw a bit of a step back from his freshman year, which is not unusual. Just one example is he went from 14.0 K/9 in 2022 to 11.9 K/9 in 2023. Don’t get me wrong though–11.9 K/9 as a starter is outstanding. I expect him to rebound this season and get back to 2022.
Saturday starter: RHP Cole Hertzler looks to make the leap from back end of the bullpen in 2023 to an anchor in the rotation this year. His first year pitching in 2023 was up and down. He pitched very well through the middle of the season, but he appeared to have worn down late leading to a 5.40 ERA. He did have a 12.5 K/9 and limited the damage due to HRs. He has been excellent this spring. Without ever making a start, he entered the D1Baseball SP top 150. A 1-2 punch with Horn could see Liberty winning several series on Saturday.
Sunday starter: LHP Nick Moran opened his season at Southern Miss and pitched a DOMINANT 5 innings giving up 1 hit and 2 BBs while striking out 6. He followed that up with 5 IP against Winthrop and 6 IP against Bryant. His season was cut short by an injury, which he was probably suffering in his last two starts against ECU and FGCU. In those two games, his ERA ballooned from 1.69 to 6.35. To be fair, both ECU and FGCU had some big bats, but I’m guessing he was trying to pitch through his injury in those games. I have yet to see him pitch this spring since I haven’t made it to a Saturday scrimmage, but I hear he has pitched very well. Pitching like he did in his first three starts would be huge for Liberty.
Midweek starter: This one is a toss-up. Coach Jackson stated on the Flames Central Podcast that the teams can only travel with 27. As Risewithus pointed out on TwitterX, the midweek starter probably won’t be traveling to CUSA away series since he is very unlikely to pitch in those series and the travel roster is so small. The candidates seem to be Ryan Butler, Todd Hudson, and Bryce Dolby. Butler had a great start in the Feb. 4th scrimmage, and he has been good otherwise. Hudson has also been good, but I think he is still building up arm strength. I haven’t seen Dolby pitch in the scrimmages since he typically has pitched on Saturdays opposite Moran. The midweek starter rarely starts the season and ends there. Expect this slot to change sooner or later.
Bullpen
The high-leverage roles in the bullpen will probably come down to RHP Graham Edwards, RHP Trey Carter, and LHP Trey Cooper. Edwards had the opposite problem as Hertzler last season. He started out getting hit, but by the end of the season, he was one of the most reliable arms in the bullpen. Carter had some ups and downs last year, but he had one of the most dominant stretches I’ve ever seen from a pitcher. He didn’t give up a run from March 26 through April 21, pitching 17.2 innings with 26 K and 0.91 WHIP. Cooper’s 5.79 ERA is a little misleading when you consider he pitched against several top-25 teams like USM, WF, Duke, UVA, VT, and ODU. He took some lumps against those schools, but he also pitched 3 hitless innings at UVA.
Other relief pitchers who are sure to see some action are Hudson (assuming he isn’t the midweek starter), Ben Roberts and his 97 mph fastball, Josh Swink and his wicked offspeed stuff, and Talor Grubbs who has pitched solidly in the spring. Relief pitchers are the toughest to figure out since there are so many of them and the coaching staff often times rides the hot hands. It would not shock me in the least to see Ben Blair, Brandon Dahlman, and Spencer Williams have significant roles in the bullpen. I feel guilty not listing all of the relievers available because this is a very deep group of pitchers, and any of them could get the hot hand like Edwards did last year.
I’ll state once again that this is just my projected lineup. I’m sure it’s going to be wrong, but it’s fun to speculate since there isn’t anything else to talk about this time of year in the sports world. There are so many good players that are going to be starving for playing time this year unlike last season. It’s a good problem to have for the team, but I hate it for the players.
For another look at the upcoming roster, be sure to check out this article from Risewithus. Lots of good insight and comparisons to past players and seasons.
