The Liberty Flames baseball team has advanced to the 2022 ASUN Baseball Championship following the conclusion of the regular season. The Flames dropped two of three games to Kennesaw State this weekend, but picked up a 16-12 win on Saturday. That win forced a tie atop the ASUN East Division standings between Liberty and the Owls with the teams splitting their six regular season games this season.
Liberty finished the regular season with a 33-20 overall record and 19-11 mark in conference play. The Flames finished the year as the No. 1 seed in the North Division finishing just ahead of Kennesaw State, thanks to their final RPI ranking. Liberty is ranked No. 40 in RPI and KSU is No. 43.
After the conclusion of the regular season, eight teams advance to next week’s ASUN Tournament. The top three teams from the ASUN East Division and the top three teams from the ASUN West Division advance to the ASUN Tournament. The final two spots are granted to the two remaining teams with the highest RPI, regardless of division finish or conference record.
Here’s the final look at the ASUN standings following the conclusion of the 2022 regular season:
ASUN STANDINGS
East
Liberty……………………….19-11, 33-20
Kennesaw State…………19-11, 32-24
FGCU…………………………17-13, 34-21
Jacksonville………………13-16, 27-25
North Florida……………..11-18, 21-32
Stetson……………………..10-20, 26-29
West
Eastern Kentucky………20-10, 35-19
Lipscomb………………….20-10, 34-20
Jacksonville State…….19-11, 26-27
Central Arkansas………18-12, 24-29
Bellarmine…………………8-22, 11-43
North Alabama………….5-25, 12-41
Liberty, Kennesaw State, FGCU, Eastern Kentucky, Lipscomb, and Jacksonville State secured their spots in the tournament thanks to their top three finish in their respective division. Jacksonville and North Florida grabbed the final two spots thanks to be the next highest ranked ASUN teams in RPI.
These eight teams will be split up into two pools consisting of four teams each. Teams will play three games in pool play, one against each team in its pool. Four teams will then advance to the semifinals with the two semifinal winners advancing to meet for the ASUN Championship and automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Pool A will consist of four teams, seeded 1-4. The two regular season division winners will be seeded 1 and 2, with the highest RPI finisher of the two getting the 1-seed. Seeds 3 and 4 of Pool A will be awarded to the top two rated RPI teams that qualify for the ASUN Tournament, regardless of divisional standing.
Pool B will consist of four teams, seeded 5-8. The teams will be seeded solely based on RPI.
The top three teams from Pool A will advance to the semifinals while only the top team from Pool B will advance to the semifinals.
Pool A winner will play the Pool B winner in the semifinals while the other two Pool A teams which advance to the semifinals will meet. The two winners will play for the ASUN championship.
The tiebreakers for advancement out of pool play will be head to head result in pool play for a two-way tie. For three way ties, head to head among the three will be used first. If that doesn’t break the tie, the highest seeded team will advance.
Here’s how the teams will be split into pool play this week:
Pool A
1. Liberty
2. Lipscomb
3. Kennesaw State
4. FGCU
The top 3 finishers in Pool A will advance to semifinals.
Pool B
5. Jacksonville
6. Eastern Kentucky
7. North Florida
8. Jacksonville State
Pool B winner will advance to semifinals.
Here’s the schedule for this year’s ASUN Tournament:
Tuesday, May 24
Pool A #1 Liberty vs #4 FGCU, 11 a.m.
Pool A #2 Lipscomb vs #3 Kennesaw State, 3 p.m.
Pool B #5 Jacksonville vs #8 Jacksonville State, 7 p.m.
Pool B #6 Eastern Kentucky vs #7 North Florida, 11 a.m.
Wednesday, May 25
Pool A #1 Liberty vs #3 Kennesaw State, 11 a.m.
Pool A #2 Lipscomb vs #4 FGCU, 3 p.m.
Pool B #5 Jacksonville vs #7 North Florida, 7 p.m.
Pool B #6 Eastern Kentucky vs #8 Jacksonville State, 11 a.m.
Thursday, May 26
Pool A #1 Liberty vs #2 Lipscomb, 11 a.m.
Pool A #3 Kennesaw State vs #4 FGCU, 3 p.m.
Pool B #5 Jacksonville vs #6 Eastern Kentucky (if necessary), 7 p.m.
Pool B #7 North Florida vs #8 Jacksonville State (if necessary), 11 a.m.
Friday, May 27
Pool A Winner vs Pool B Winner, 11 a.m.
Pool A runner-up vs Pool A third place, 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 28
Two semifinal winners will meet
