ASUN regular season champion Lipscomb enter the final day of Pool Play on Friday winless in the ASUN Tournament. The Bisons were able to notch a win in the win column by hanging on to defeat Jacksonville, 4-3, on Friday afternoon. With the win, Lipscomb secured the fourth and final spot in the ASUN Semifinals, which begin on Saturday.
Following the Bisons win, Liberty and FGCU took to the field. It was a game that only mattered in terms of seeding in the semifinals and what the matchups would be Saturday. The winner would win Pool A and take on Pool B winner Jacksonville State while the loser would play Lipscomb.
Both teams sought to preserve their top arms entering the weekend. Liberty sent Ryan Butler to the mound for the start. He pitched five innings, exiting with the game tied at 9. Tyler Germanowski came on in relief for the Flames to begin the 6th inning. He pitched into the 8th until the Flames turned to Gray Betts to make his collegiate pitching debut. The Eagles would pull away in the late innings for the 15-12 win.
With the win, FGCU finished a perfect 3-0 in Pool Play and will take on Jacksonville State in the first game of the ASUN Semifinals Saturday. Liberty play Lipscomb at approximately 3 p.m. Saturday. The two winners will play in Sunday’s title game.
Lipscomb was the ASUN regular season champion and entered the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed following their 23-7 record in ASUN play during the regular season.
The Flames are 2-2 against Lipscomb this season, including a win over the Bisons on Tuesday, 12-11, to open pool play. Liberty dropped the first two games of a three-game series in late March and into April by scores of 2-1 and 8-7. The Flames did grab a win in the third game of the series in Nashville, 9-4, on April 2.
Garrett Horn will get the start Saturday for the Flames. The Liberty ace is well rested as he has not pitched since last Thursday. He picked up the loss in the first game between these two teams earlier this year as he allowed two runs on eight hits in four innings while striking out five and walking three.
POOL PLAY STANDINGS
Pool A
1. FGCU 3-0
2. Liberty 1-2
2. Lipscomb 1-2
2. Jacksonville 1-2
Three-way tiebreaker is broken by seeding. #1 Lipscomb and #3 Liberty advance over #4 Jacksonville.
The top 3 finishers in Pool A will advance to semifinals.
Pool B
1. Jacksonville State 2-0
2. Stetson 2-1
2. Eastern Kentucky 1-2
4. Austin Peay 0-2
Pool B winner will advance to semifinals.
ASUN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Tuesday, May 23
Pool A #3 Liberty 12, #1 Lipscomb 11
Pool A #2 FGCU 7, #4 Jacksonville 0
Pool B #5 Stetson 8, #6 Eastern Kentucky 3
OFF: #7 Jacksonville State, #8 Austin Peay
Wednesday, May 24
Pool A #4 Jacksonville (1-1) 8, #3 Liberty (1-1) 0
Pool B #7 Jacksonville State (1-0) 6, #5 Stetson (1-1) 1
Pool B #6 Eastern Kentucky (1-1) 3, #8 Austin Peay (0-1) 2
OFF: #1 Lipscomb (0-1), #2 FGCU (1-0)
Thursday, May 25
Pool A #2 FGCU (1-1) 6, #1 Lipscomb (0-1) 5
Pool B #5 Stetson (2-1) 12, #8 Austin Peay (0-2), 3
Pool B #7 Jacksonville State (2-0) 9, #6 Eastern Kentucky (1-1) 3
OFF: #3 Liberty (1-1), #4 Jacksonville (1-1)
Friday, May 26
Pool A #1 Lipscomb (1-2) 4, #4 Jacksonville (1-2) 3
Pool A #2 FGCU (3-0) 15, #3 Liberty (1-2) 12
Pool B #7 Jacksonville State (2-0) vs #8 Austin Peay (0-2), 7 p.m.
OFF: #5 Stetson (2-1), #6 Eastern Kentucky (1-2)
Saturday, May 27
FGCU vs Jacksonville State, 11 a.m.
Liberty vs Lipscomb, 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 28
Championship Final, 1 p.m.
