Series Recap:
Friday May 13: Liberty 11, Radford 5
Saturday May 14: Liberty 7, Radford 2
Sunday May 15: Liberty 14, Radford 8
Liberty (26-26, 10-11 BSC) takes all three games over the weekend against Radford (14-37, 6-15 BSC) moving them back to .500 for the first time in a couple weeks and pushing them into a tie for 7th in the Big South with Presbyterian. Liberty’s final home series for the year was a big one for both the Flames and the Highlanders who were fighting to secure a spot in the conference tournament. With the series sweep the Flames have locked up a spot in the conference tournament.
2015 Big South Champion Radford isn’t having the same success they had last year with only 14 total wins on the year. Radford sits last in the conference in hits (400), Runs (208), RBI’s (175), and Batting average (.239), so it comes as no surprise that the Flames pitching staff looked much better against the Highlanders. Still though, giving up 15 runs to statistically the worst offensive team in the Big South does not bode well for Liberty heading into the final week of the season.
Offensive Player of the series: Andrew Yacyk
Junior Andrew Yacyk had himself a weekend. In 11 at bats Yacyk had 6 hits, 8 RBI’s, walked 3 times and scored 4 runs. Yacyk is hitting .318 on the year and leads the team in RBI’s with 45.
Starting Pitcher Of The Weekend: Jack DeGroat
Saturday’s starter freshman Jack DeGroat put in 6.2 innings of work while giving up 8 hits, 2 earned runs, walking 2, and striking out 7. After the series against Coastal where only one Liberty starter made it out of the second inning the Flames needed a performance like DeGroat’s to win the second game of the series. DeGroat sits at 3-3 on the year with an ERA of 4.78 over 52.2 innings pitched.
Reliever of the series: Shane Quarterley
Quarterley picked up his 7th save on Friday night against Radford without giving up a hit over 2.1 scoreless innings and recording 1 strikeout. Quarterley’s ERA on the year sits at a respectable 3.32 over 40.2 innings.
Stat of the series: Walks
After giving up an average of 7 walks per game over their last 5 games coming into this series with Radford, the Flames pitching staff needed to get their free passes in check. Liberty averaged 3 walks a game against the Highlanders in the series sweep.
The Flames have issued 85 more walks on the year than their opponents. That is almost 2 more walks per contest. The Flames pitching staff needs to continue to keep their walk numbers low if they expect to have success in the conference tournament.
Up Next For The Flames:
The Flames will play a non conference game at Radford on Tuesday before closing out the year with a three game series at High Point (30-20, 13-8 BSC). High Point currently sits tied for second in conference with Campbell who is ineligible for postseason play.
