Liberty won their second consecutive ASUN series this past weekend in a 2-1 split with Kennesaw State, including a dominant 18-3 win in the first game of a double header Friday. They laid on the runs despite playing only 7 innings for this game.
The 9-2 series opener had Garrett Horn pitching 6 innings and allowing only 1 earned run with 9 strike outs. Derek Orndorff got on base every at bat with 1 hit and to walks and was credited with 2 RBI’s and 3 runs scored himself. In the 18-3 game Friday, Dylan Cumming pitched the entirety of the 7 inning games and allowed 1 earned run on 5 hits. Gray Betts and Aaron Anderson both had 4 hits on the day.
Liberty dropped the last game of the series in an 8-9 nail biter in which Kennesaw State scored 5 runs in the 6th inning alone. The Flames also took a game on Tuesday against Duke in a close 3-2 victory. Duke only had 2 hits throughout the game as Aaron Anderson batted in the winning run in a tight game.
The UNF Ospreys are 16-22 this season. Though with no clear cut star offensive player, senior shortstop Isaiah Byars and sophomore leadoff catcher Aidan Sweatt have thus far been consistent hitters for UNF, leading the team with .333 and .331 batting averages and 45 and 47 hits, respectively. Third basemen Abraham Sequera has shown the capability to be a power hitter so far this season for the Ospreys, leading the team in home runs with 4 and 2nd in slugging percentage with .494. Outfielder Brock Edge has the highest on base percentage with .405. Offensive production has been somewhat of a struggle for the Ospreys in many of these games this year.
Junior southpaw Tony Roca and senior Max McKinley have been the pitchers with the most starts in this bullpen. Roca has a record of 0-5 and an ERA of 5.47 while McKinley is 2-3 with an ERA of 5.08. The regular starters seem to have less impressive statistical resumes this season than most other pitchers the Flames have faced off against recently. Other than those two, pitching duties have circulated between the various other relief pitchers in the arsenal. Lefty senior Zach Chappell has started a couple games and appeared in three others besides that. Junior Jason Gonzalez has the third most innings pitched on the team, coming into 15 games (most on team).
Liberty still sits second to Kennesaw State in the conference standing because of a slightly lower record against ASUN opponents. The Flames should look to take advantage of this series and boost their stock within the standing by racking up some wins against the lower half of ASUN opponents. UNF is a very favorable matchup for Liberty and this is the chance to build up the pedigree within the conference even further.
