The Liberty Flames continue to be projected into the NCAA Tournament field by both Baseball America and D1 Baseball this week as the ASUN automatic bid. The Flames are now 27-11 overall and 11-1 in conference play following the team’s heartbreaking, 6-5, loss at Virginia on Tuesday afternoon in Charlottesville. Liberty’s RPI is at 41 which is exactly where it was last week at this time.

This week, Liberty is pegged as a 3-seed in the Columbia, South Carolina Regional by Baseball America, the same regional the Flames were projected in last week. No. 13 overall seed South Carolina would be the host while No. 2 seed Pittsburgh and No. 4 seed Western Carolina are also projected into this regional.

The last four teams into the field in this projection are San Diego, Tulane, UC Santa Barbara, and North Carolina. The first four out are Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, and the ASUN’s FGCU. Next four out are Maryland, Clemson, VCU, and Georgia Southern.

In D1Baseball’s projected field this week, Liberty remains as the ASUN automatic bid and receives a 3-seed. This week, the Flames are being projected into the Greenville, North Carolina Regional which is hosted by the No. 10 overall seed East Carolina. Other teams in this projected regional include No. 2 seed Georgia and No. 4 seed NC Central.

If Liberty were to falter in the ASUN Tournament, the Flames would be squarely on the bubble and would have to sweat out the selection show. According to D1 Baseball, the 10 teams they have listed on their bubble this week (the last five in and the first five out) include Indiana, San Diego, Tulane, NC State, North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia Southern, and LSU. Here’s a look at those teams’ RPI this week:

  • 126 Indiana
  • 169 San Diego
  • 62 Tulane
  • 38 NC State
  • 53 North Carolina
  • 58 Kentucky
  • 73 Maryland
  • 25 Alabama
  • 64 Georgia Southern
  • 24 LSU

The Flames are currently at No. 41 in RPI with a 4-4 record against Quad 1 opponents, 10-6 in Quad 2 games, 1-0 in Quad 3 games, and 12-1 against Quad 4. Let’s compare that to North Carolina who is projected as one of the final teams to receive an at-large bid according to D1 Baseball. The Tar Heels’ current RPI is 53 with a 7-14 record in Quad 1 games,

Liberty returns to action this weekend at home with a three-game ASUN series against Bellarmine beginning Friday at 6 pm. The Flames will be looking to exact some revenge from the team’s only conference loss so far this season as the Flames dropped one of three games in Louisville against the Knights in late March. Bellarmine is 12-24 overall and 7-11 in conference play.