BASEBALL FINALLY PICKS UP WIN
The Flames had lost 4 straight games overall and 6 straight home games before rallying to defeat Old Dominion on Wednesday. This came on the heels of an embarrassing series sweep against rival Coastal Carolina in the clubs’ final series showdown as Big South rivals. The Chanticleers outscored the Flames 43-9 in the 3 games with Liberty never holding a lead. Liberty had only one starting pitcher make it out of the 2nd inning all weekend. Since March 29th the Flames are 7-16, bringing their overall record to 23-26. The Flame Train hopes to get back on track this weekend with a 3 game series against Radford at Liberty baseball stadium.
BRAND-NEW NATATORIUM, NEW CLUB SPORTS ANNOUNCED
Liberty announced this week a 75,000 square foot natatorium will be part of the new indoor track complex currently under construction on Liberty Mountain. The natatorium is already under construction and is expected to be completed by July 2017. The facility will feature an 8-lane 50-meter pool with a bulkhead and a separate 17-foot-deep diving well with a full tower that includes 1 and 3 meter springboards and 1, 3, 5, 7, 7.5, and 10 meter platforms. It will be equipped to host regional, state, and even national meets for high school, collegiate, YMCA, and USA Swimming programs. The new building will have a seating capacity of 1,300 with 900 permanent seats in wraparound stands located along the 25-yard portion of the pool. This new facility will also allow for the addition of two new club sports – men’s swimming (2017) and men’s water polo (2018).
DEPTH CHART BREAKDOWN CONTINUES
Since Coach Gill released the post-spring depth chart a week ago, we have been going position-by-position with a breakdown of the depth chart. Each of these breakdowns include comments from Coach Gill and the associated position coach. So far, we have published our breakdowns of the cornerbacks, safeties, linebackers, defensive line, running backs, and quarterbacks. We will continue our previews into next week as we turn our attention to the tight ends, fullbacks, offensive line, wide receivers, and special teams.
SCOTT UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL SURGERY
In an Instagram post this week, Liberty cornerback Wesley Scott announced he had undergone successful surgery on his torn ACL he suffered during spring practice. The rising senior will miss all of 2016, but plans on redshirting and returning to action in 2017.
WOODRUM CUT BY GIANTS, SIGNED BY COLTS
Just a few days after signing an undrafted free agent contract with the New York Giants, former Liberty quarterback Josh Woodrum was cut. One day later, Liberty’s all-time passing leader was picked up by the Indianapolis Colts. It’s kind of an odd case as to why he was cut so soon after signing with the Giants. As BigBlueView notes, New York was extremely high on Woodrum and even called him during the draft to let him know they wanted to sign him as a priority undrafted free agent if he wasn’t selected. Part of Woodrum’s contract included a guaranteed $20K, which is a big chunk of change for undrafted free agents. BigBlueView also notes that last Friday, Woodrum “was impressive” and “threw the ball with authority and accuracy.”
UZOWIHE OFFERED TRYOUT WITH BILLS
One name that was a bit surprising that wasn’t signed as an undrafted free agent immediately following the Draft was Chima Uzowihe. Liberty’s all-time leading sack artist, received a try-out invitation with the Buffalo Bills as part of their rookie mini-camp last weekend. No word to this point on how he fared.
SOFTBALL SEEKS BIG SOUTH TITLE
The Lady Flames earned the #3 seed in this week’s Big South Softball Championship and promptly dispatched of #6 Presbyterian on Wednesday. In a game that was suspended Thursday night and resumed Friday morning, Liberty lost to #2 seed Coastal Carolina, 8-0. The Lady Flames will face #4 Radford in an elimination game Friday afternoon at 2pm.
TRACK & FIELD WIN BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
Liberty’s men’s & women’s track & field teams won the Big South Championship this week. The women’s squad scored 235.5 points as they beat Coastal Carolina who finished with 133 points. The win gives the Lady Flames consecutive Big South titles for the first time since winning 10 in a row from 1994-2003. The women have claimed 15 out of 23 championships in meet history. The men won its 10th straight conference championship and its 21st title in the meet’s 23 year history. The men had 257 points to runner-up Coastal Carolina’s 156.
RANDY DUNTON HIRED AS LIBERTY HIGH BASKETBALL COACH
The Roanoke Times reports that former Liberty men’s basketball coach has been hired as the new boys coach at Liberty High School in Bedford. Dunton was LU’s head coach for 5 seasons from 2002-2007, compiling a 66-85 overall record including the 2004 Big South tournament championship.
