It was a long and anxious last 48 hours or so for the Liberty baseball team. After the Flames were knocked off by Kennesaw State in Saturday’s ASUN Championship game, head coach Scott Jackson and his team had put their fates in the NCAA Tournament committee’s hands and had to wait until Monday’s selection show to see if their season would continue.
The news came on Monday afternoon as Liberty’s (37-21) name was read on the ESPN2 selection show. The Flames are the 3-seed in the Gainesville Regional where No. 13 Florida (39-22) is the host. Liberty will play Oklahoma (37-20) on Friday while the Gators open regional play against Central Michigan (42-17).
Liberty was officially one of the last four teams that received an invite into the Tournament. This is the second straight year the Flames have received an at-large.
The Flames and Florida are no strangers to each other this season. The two teams opened the year against one another, with Liberty taking two of the three games in the series in Gainesville at Florida Ballpark on February 18-20. The Flames lost the season opener, 7-2, before bouncing back with wins on Saturday and Sunday, 6-4 and 5-3.
Friday’s game will be the first ever meeting between Liberty and Oklahoma. The Sooners enter the NCAA Tournament having won the Big 12 tournament championship for the first time since 2013. They will be making their first regional appearance since 2018.
The Gainesville regional is paired up with the Blacksburg regional hosted by No. 4 Virginia Tech, with the two winners meeting up in the Super Regionals to determine a spot in the College World Series.
This marks Liberty’s third straight regional appearance under head coach Scott Jackson following the team’s 2019 ASUN Championship and at-large in 2021. The 2020 baseball season was canceled amid the COVID pandemic. This is Liberty’s eighth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, having previously made the field in 1993, 1998, 2000, 2013, 2014, 2019, and 2021.
Liberty is 6-14 all-time in NCAA Regionals. The Flames defeated ACC Champion Duke twice in the Knoxville Regional a year ago while losing to No. 2 national seed Tennesee twice, including on Sunday in the Regional Final.
