The final four field for the ASUN Tournament this week in Jacksonville, Florida is now set as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the North Division, Liberty and Kennesaw State, have advanced, as well as the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds in the South Division, North Florida and Jacksonville. The double-elimination tournament begins on Thursday with the ASUN expected to crown a champion on Saturday.
#1N Liberty (37-12, 19-2) defeated #4N Bellarmine in two games this past weekend at Liberty Baseball Stadium in the ASUN Quarterfinals. The Flames will be looking to defend their 2019 ASUN Baseball Championship after the 2020 seasons was canceled amid the COVID pandemic.
#4S Jacksonville (13-32, 3-15) pulled off a huge upset over the top seed in the South Division FGCU, defeating the Eagles two games to one this past weekend in Fort Myers. The Dolphins won just three games in conference play during the regular season while losing five of six games to FGCU entering the conference tournament. That didn’t matter as Jacksonville won Friday night’s game 4-1, and, after losing on Saturday 7-3, the Dolphins completed the series upset in dominant fashion as Jacksonville totaled 11 runs in the first four innings on their way to a 17-1 win.
The Flames and Dolphins will open play at Harmon Stadium on North Florida’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday at 11 am. All games this weekend will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Right hand pitcher Mike Cassala earned the win on Sunday while allowing one run and five hits over seven innings. He also totaled four RBIs at the plate in the game Sunday. Cassala leads the Dolphins with a .349 batting average this season while making 24 starts in the lineup. On the mound, Cassala has made 13 appearances, including 10 starts, where he has posted a 6.18 ERA with 51 innings pitched and 45 strikeouts.
Tyler Santana will likely get the start on the bump for Jacksonville against Liberty on Thursday. The righty threw 7.2 innings while allowing three hits and one run to go along with six strikeouts while picking up the win this past Friday night against FGCU. On the season, Santana has a 5.18 ERA while posting a 4-7 record in 13 starts. He’s pitched one complete game this season and has struck out 86 in 83.1 innings pitched.
Outfielder Ruben Someillan has a .310 batting average this season to go along with two home runs and 18 RBIs. Christian Coipel is batting .249 with a team-leading seven home runs and 29 RBIs. Second baseman Jesus Pacheco and third baseman Jackson Grabsky were named to the ASUN’s all-freshman team.
ASUN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (all games on ESPN+)
THURSDAY
Game 1: #1N Liberty vs #4S Jacksonville, 11 am
Game 2: #2N Kennesaw State vs #2S North Florida, 3 pm
FRIDAY
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs Game 2 loser, 11 am
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner, 3 pm
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs Game 4 loser, 7 pm
SATURDAY
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs Game 5 winner, 1pm
Game 7: To follow Game 6, if necessary
