Coming off Wednesday’s win over Longwood in the home opener, Liberty will look to win its second consecutive series this weekend with a three-game set against Bryant, the first home series of the season.
It will be the second straight trip to Virginia for the Bulldogs, as they played a three game series in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech this past weekend. Bryant picked up a big win last Friday over the Hokies, 7-3. In his second career start, Coleman Picard struck out 12 over 5 innings of one-run ball to spur Bryant to the big win. Picard has a 1.80 ERA in his two starts this season, striking out 17 in 10 innings pitched.
That’s the only win on the season for the Bulldogs so far though, as they are currently 1-5 on the early campaign. Bryant was swept in three games at High Point to open the season before picking up the win over Virginia Tech. The Bulldogs dropped games against the Hokies on Saturday and Sunday to conclude the series.
Last year, Bryant finished the season 30-27 overall with a 17-10 mark in the NEC. They opened the year with a three-game sweep at East Carolina. The Bulldogs entered the NEC tournament as the No. 2 seed and would advance to the winner take all championship game where they would fall to No. 1 seed Long Island.
Senior infielder Jake Gustin currently leads the team with a .346 batting average. He has three doubles and four RBIs through six games. Five different players have hit a home run for Bryant so far this season.
Liberty is 5-2 all-time against Bryant with the last meeting coming during the 2017 season. The three games from Liberty Baseball Stadium this weekend have first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Update: Due to rain in the forecast for Friday, the series has been adjusted. The Flames and Bulldogs will now play a double header Saturday beginning at noon and the series finale scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
