The Liberty Flames fell to 12-16 overall following the team’s loss to No. 7 Virginia on Tuesday night in Lynchburg, 4-1. The Flames are 4-5 in conference play entering this weekend’s series against Central Arkansas which begins Thursday evening.
The Cavaliers broke up a pitchers’ duel in the fifth, taking advantage of a Flames’ error to plate three two-out runs. Catcher Gray Betts and left fielder Kane Kepley each had two hits in the game for the Flames. Betts drove in Liberty’s lone run in the contest. The contest was played before 3,678 fans, the fourth largest crowd in Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Griff O’Ferrall singled and center fielder Ethan O’Donnell reached on a fielding error to open the fifth inning. Liberty’s Trey Cooper battled back, retiring the next two batters, before first baseman Ethan Anderson lined a two-out single through the right side of the infield to score O’Donnell. After a Flames pitching change and a walk to designated hitter Anthony Stephan, left fielder right fielder Casey Saucke followed with a single, plating two runs for a 3-0 lead.
Liberty will be looking to win a second ASUN series of the season this weekend when the Flames play host to Central Arkansas. The Bears are currently 13-15 on the season and 5-4 in ASUN play. They did not play a midweek game this week as the weekend schedule has been moved up a day due to Easter. UCA is coming off a series win over Queens this past weekend. The Bears have also swept North Alabama and were swept by Jacksonville earlier this season in conference action.
This is Central Arkansas second season in the ASUN. They finished last year with a 24-29 overall record and 18-12 mark in conference play.
Reid Bowman leads UCA in batting with a .358 batting average. AJ Mendolia is currently batting .352 on the season with 4 home runs and 20 RBIs. They are two of five players batting over .300 so far this season for the Bears and nine different players have at least 11 RBIs. Evan Hafley leads the team with 7 home runs while Kolby Johnson leads the club with 22 RBIs.
Jesse Barker has been the ace of the staff for the Bears this season. The Friday night starter, Barker is 4-1 on the season with a 2.57 ERA. In 42 innings pitched he has struck out 52 and walked 17 with one complete game in seven starts.
Payton Windham and Charlie Christensen got the start this past weekend against Queens on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. On the season, Windham has made two starts in five appearances. He has a 5.06 ERA in 10.2 innings pitched while walking 10 and striking out 8. Christensen has a 1-2 record and 9.60 ERA on the season. He has pitched 15 innings with 18 walks and 17 strikeouts.
This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs who are both relatively new members in the ASUN. The three games from Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia this weekend have first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. Saturday.
