The eight-team field for the 2022 ASUN Baseball Tournament this week in Fort Myers, Florida is now set as the regular season has concluded. Eight teams have advanced to this week’s tournament where pool play will begin on Tuesday with the ASUN expected to crown a champion on Saturday.

Liberty (33-20, 19-11) finished the regular season this past weekend, dropping two out of three games at home against Kennesaw State (32-24, 19-11). The Flames and Owls ended the year tied for first place in the ASUN East Division and splitting the six-game regular season series at three games a piece. Liberty was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in this week’s ASUN Tournament due to a higher RPI, as the Flames are currently at No. 41 compared to KSU’s 43, as of Monday morning.

The eight teams that have qualified for the tournament – Liberty, Lipscomb, Kennesaw State, FGCU, Jacksonville, Eastern Kentucky, North Florida, and Jacksonville State – have been placed in two separate pools where each team will play three games against the other teams in their pool. The top three teams from Pool A (Liberty, Lipscomb, Kennesaw State, FGCU) will advance to Friday’s semifinals while the top team from Pool B (Jacksonville, Eastern Kentucky, North Florida, Jacksonville State) will also advance.

All games this week will be played on the campus of FGCU in Fort Myers, Florida at Swanson Stadium with one game each day during pool play also being played at JetBlue Park. All of Liberty’s pool play games will be at Swanson Stadium beginning at 11 a.m.

Liberty will open pool play on Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. against the No. 4 seed and tournament host FGCU (34-21, 17-13). The Flames won five of the six games against the Eagles this week, sweeping the three-game series in Lynchburg in early April by scores of 11-3, 8-3, and 8-2. Less than two weeks ago, Liberty won two of three games at Swanson Stadium, picking up wins 23-3 and 8-5 following a Friday night setback of 8-7.

The Flames will hope to get the services of starter Garrett Horn back this week. The freshman left hander has missed his last two starts due to shoulder soreness. He last appeared for the Flames on May 6 in a 7-5 Liberty win over Jacksonville. In that game, Horn tossed 5 innings, giving up two runs on four hits as he picked up the win. On the season, Horn is 6-1 in 13 appearances, including seven starts. He has a 1.93 ERA in 51.1 innings pitched while striking out 80 and walking 24.

This week will certainly test the team’s pitching depth as whoever wins the ASUN Tournament will have to play five games in five days, that would include two must win games on Friday and Saturday following pool play. In addition to Horn, Liberty will rely on Joe Adametz, Trey Gibson, and Dylan Cumming as likely starters this week to help eat up innings and preserve the bullpen.

ASUN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Tuesday, May 24
Pool A #1 Liberty vs #4 FGCU, 11 a.m.
Pool A #2 Lipscomb vs #3 Kennesaw State, 3 p.m.

Pool B #6 Eastern Kentucky vs #7 North Florida, 11 a.m. – JetBlue Park
Pool B #5 Jacksonville vs #8 Jacksonville State, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, May 25
Pool A #1 Liberty vs #3 Kennesaw State, 11 a.m.
Pool A #2 Lipscomb vs #4 FGCU, 3 p.m.

Pool B #6 Eastern Kentucky vs #8 Jacksonville State, 11 a.m. – JetBlue Park
Pool B #5 Jacksonville vs #7 North Florida, 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 26
Pool A #1 Liberty vs #2 Lipscomb, 11 a.m.
Pool A #3 Kennesaw State vs #4 FGCU, 3 p.m.

Pool B #7 North Florida vs #8 Jacksonville State (if necessary), 11 a.m. – JetBlue Park
Pool B #5 Jacksonville vs #6 Eastern Kentucky (if necessary), 7 p.m.

Friday, May 27
Pool A Winner vs Pool B Winner, 11 a.m.
Pool A runner-up vs Pool A third place, 3 p.m.

Saturday, May 28
Two semifinal winners will meet

*all games will be played at Swanson Stadium unless otherwise noted