Liberty pulled the upset over host and No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech, 6-2, on Friday afternoon at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in Ruston, Louisiana on day three of the 2024 CUSA Baseball Tournament.

With the win, Liberty advances to the semifinals on Saturday. The Flames will play the winner of No. 1 Louisiana Tech and No. 4 Sam Houston, who are scheduled to meet in an elimination game Friday night at approximately 8:30 p.m. The winner of that game would have to defeat Liberty twice in Saturday’s semifinals to advance to Sunday’s winner take all conference championship game.

Following up on Cole Hertzler’s strong start, Nick Moran pitched a gem for the Flames Friday afternoon. He tossed 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out six, and walking two.

The Flames would get on the board first in the top of the third, doing all of their damage in the frame with two outs. After Kane Kepley walked, Aidann Sweatt’s single put runners on the corners. Liberty catcher Macaddin Dye singled through the middle, scoring Kepley as Liberty took a 1-0 early lead.

The next inning, Noah Rabon was hit by a pitch and Camden Troyer continued his stellar play in Ruston. He blasted a pitch over the outfield wall in right center, his third home run in two games of the CUSA Tournament. Cam Foster would follow with a mammoth shot to left center for back-to-back jacks, making the score 4-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Bulldogs would load the bases with two outs, but Moran would get out of his first true trouble of the contest.

Tanner Marsh’s RBI double in the top of the eighth added an insurance run for the Flames, as the lead grew to 5-0.

Pitching seven scoreless innings, Liberty head coach Scott Jackson sent Moran back to the bump in the eighth. After recording his sixth strikeout of the contest, Louisiana Tech singled and homered, breaking up the left-hander’s shutout bid. Ben Blair came on in relief of Moran, recording the final five outs to pick up the save.

Todd Hudson’s solo shot in the top of the ninth recorded the final margin of the game.

Liberty sits in terrific position heading into the weekend. Thanks to Hertzler and Moran, the Flames have nearly a full stable of arms to work with and are just two wins away from the conference championship.

CUSA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE/RESULTS

All games streamed on ESPN+ except for Sunday’s Championship game which is on CBS Sports Network

Wednesday, May 22
Game 1:  #6 FIU 7, #3 Western Kentucky 5
Game 2: #2 Dallas Baptist 5, #7 New Mexico State 3

Thursday, May 23
Game 3: No. 1 LA Tech 8, No. 8 MTSU 2
Game 4: No. 5 Liberty 9, No. 4 Sam Houston 1
Game 5: No. 3 WKU 8, No. 7 NM State 2 – NMSU eliminated
Game 6: No. 2 DBU 8, No. 6 FIU 2

Friday, May 24
Game 7: No. 4 Sam Houston 2, No. 8 Middle Tennessee 0 – MTSU eliminated
Game 8: No. 5 Liberty 6, No. 1 LA Tech 2
Game 9: No. 3 WKU 8, No. 6 FIU 5 – FIU eliminated
Game 10: No. 1 LA Tech 5, No. 4 Sam Houston 3 – Sam Houston eliminated

Saturday, May 25
Game 11: No. 2 DBU vs No. 3 WKU, 10 a.m.
Game 12: No. 5 Liberty vs No. 1 LA Tech, 1:30 p.m.
Game 13, Same Teams as Game 11, if necessary: 5 p.m.
Game 14, Same Teams as Game 12, if necessary: 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 26
Championship Final, 2 p.m.