What an opening weekend it was for Liberty baseball in Gainesville, Florida as the Flames take the series, two games to one, over No. 9 Florida. Liberty dropped the season opener Friday night, but would respond with two very good performances from the bullpen to knock off the Gators.

The Flames would have to do it without Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Guy. It was announced over the weekend that the center fielder would miss the 2022 season due to an arm injury.

FRIDAY: #9 FLORIDA 7, LIBERTY 2

In the season opener for both teams, Liberty fell behind and was unable to string together a rally as the Florida Gators opened the season with a win. Right fielder Sterlin Thompson hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the seventh, for the Gators.

Starting pitcher, Hunter Barco, one of the top pitchers in the country, held the Flames in check over the first five innings. Liberty threatened in the sixth with shortstop Jake Lazzaro drawing a one-out walk, followed by a single by left fielder Nathan Keeter. After a flyout, both runners moved into scoring position at second and third, but Barco was able to retire right fielder Aaron Anderson to keep the Flames off the scoreboard.

Liberty tried to rally in the ninth inning by loading the bases with one out, but Florida reliever Ryan Slater came into the contest and was able to retire the final two batters of the inning to close out the victory.

SATURDAY: LIBERTY 6, #9 FLORIDA 4

Liberty’s bullpen flexed their muscles on Saturday evening in Gainesville. David Erickson, Mason Fluharty, Trey Carter, and Cade Hungate silenced the Florida bats to help lift the Flames to the win. That group combined for six innings pitched, two hits, no runs, and five strikeouts in Liberty’s, 6-4, win.

True freshman second baseman Cameron Foster drove in three runs on the day. He gave Liberty the lead in the fifth with an RBI double, and was also hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and lifted a sacrifice fly in the contest.

After Florida scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 4, Liberty answered right back in the top of the fifth on Foster’s double. The Flames would not relinquish the lead as the bullpen took care of business. Third baseman Stephen Hill would score from first on the base knock by Foster pushing the Flames ahead 5-4.

SUNDAY: LIBERTY 5, #9 FLORIDA 3

With both teams looking for the series win on Sunday afternoon, the Gators jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the home half of the 4th inning thanks to a two-out RBI double and two-run home run off Liberty starter Max Alba. The Flames would quickly respond and the bullpen would hold the Gators scoreless the rest of the way.

Liberty would tie the game in the top of the fifth off a two-run home run by Aaron Anderson and an RBI double from Brady Gulakowski. The Flames would add a run in both the sixth and the seventh inning, as the bullpen did the work on the bound to help secure the huge series win to open the season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DEREK ORNDORFF

Guy’s replacement in center field looks like he will provide plenty of production for the Flames. Derek Orndorff, in his first season at Liberty after transferring from Seton Hill, had a very strong debut performance for the Flames this weekend in Gainesville. Not only did he make the SportsCenter Top 10 plays with the #1 play of the night Friday, he also showed he could do some damage with the bat, as well. Orndorff finished the week 3 of 9 at the plate with one home run, two runs scored, and two RBIs.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: CADE HUNGATE

We couldn’t pick Liberty’s entire bullpen, so we go with the closer who got two saves on the weekend. Cade Hungate pitched two innings of no-hit baseball while recording two strikeouts to shut down the Florida bats and preserve the Liberty wins on Saturday and Sunday.

ON TAP

Liberty will make its home debut on Wednesday against North Carolina A&T with first pitch scheduled for 4 pm from Liberty Baseball Stadium. There will be no video streaming option available for the game against the Aggies who are 0-3 after getting swept by Dayton this weekend.

The Flames will then welcome former Big South rival Winthrop to Lynchburg for a three-game series. Things get started on Friday afternoon at 4 pm, followed by Saturday’s game at 2 pm and the Sunday series finale at 1 pm. The Eagles opened the season 2-1 as they took the series from Eastern Michigan to begin the season. They play at South Carolina  on Tuesday.