Gainesville Regional Game Day: #3 Liberty vs #2 Oklahoma

No. 3 Liberty (37-21) vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (37-20)

When: June 3

Time: 1:00 PM ET

Where: Florida Ballpark | Gainesville, FL

Watch: ESPN+

QUICK FACTS

– This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.

– Liberty is making its third consecutive and eighth all-time NCAA Regional appearance. The Flames received an at-large selection to a regional for the second straight year and third time in program history.

– At 37 wins on the season, Liberty is three wins away from recording the seventh season in program history with 40 or more wins and its third under head coach Scott Jackson.

PROBABLE STARTERS

WHAT TO WATCH 

– Day one in Regional play is always important. The winner moves on to the winner’s bracket and won’t have to play again until Saturday night. The loser however, falls into the loser’s bracket, will play in the early game on Saturday, and will have to win four straight games to advance to Super Regionals.

– The Sooners are one of the hottest teams in the country, having won the Big 12 Tournament and five straight weekend series.

– Oklahoma’s Jake Bennett is the ace of the staff and is expected to get the start against Liberty. In 15 appearances this season, all starts, Bennett had posted a 7-3 record with a 3.60 ERA. In 90 innings pitched, he has struck out 103 and walked just 18. He had a season high 12 strikeouts on Thursday against Texas Tech.

– Oklahoma’s Peyton Graham has a .339 batting average and leads the team with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs.

– The Sooners are an offense that are a blast from the past. They only have two guys in their lineup with more than six home runs on the season. However, Oklahoma has 135 stolen bases and 327 walks drawn this year, both numbers rank in the top eight nationally.

– Over the past few weeks, Liberty’s starters have struggled. For Liberty’s usual starters, in their last seven starts, only three have pitched into the fifth inning and all seven have surrendered at least three runs in their start.

Probable Liberty Lineup

Probable Oklahoma Lineup