On Monday, Liberty (37-21) was selected as an at-large into the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament, making it as one of the last four teams into the field. The Flames are the No. 3 seed in the Gainesville Regional and will take on No. 2 seed Oklahoma (37-20) on Friday at 1 p.m.
It was Liberty’s non-conference schedule and its performance in those games that helped the Flames put together the quality resume it needed to get into the field despite not earning the ASUN’s automatic bid after losing to Kennesaw State in Saturday’s championship game.
The Flames boast an RPI of 31, strength of schedule of 41, and non-conference strength of schedule of 13. Liberty tied for first place in the ASUN East Division with Kennesaw State with an 18-12 record in conference play. The Flames’ schedule also featured games against top 50 opponents in North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Florida, Virginia, and Kennesaw State. Liberty was 7-11 against those teams.
“We had seven wins against the top 50,” said Liberty head coach Scott Jackson. “We had the chance to take the series against Florida, who played for the SEC title. Beat North Carolina in the middle of the week and they’re ACC champs. I can’t help but think the non-conference part put us over the hump.”
Liberty, who had one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this season, played nine teams that made the 2022 NCAA Baseball Regional fields. The Flames faced off against regional hosts Virginia Tech, Florida, and North Carolina, along with Canisius, Campbell, Kennesaw State, Wake Forest, VCU, and Virginia. Liberty was 11-13 overall against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s a full breakdown of those games:
FLORIDA (2-1) (Regional host, No. 13 national seed)
- Feb. 18: L, 7-2
- Feb. 19: W, 6-4
- Feb. 20: W, 5-3
CANISIUS (3-0) (No. 4 seed in Coral Gables Regional)
- March 4: W, 4-1
- March 5: W, 14-3
- March 6: W, 14-5
NORTH CAROLINA (1-1) (Regional host, No. 10 national seed)
- March 8: W, 1-0
- April 27: L, 8-1
CAMPBELL (1-1) (No. 3 seed in Knoxville Regional)
- March 11: L, 7-0
- March 13: W, 5-3
VCU (0-1) (No. 3 seed in Chapel Hill Regional)
- March 15: L, 2-1
WAKE FOREST (0-2) (No. 2 seed in College Park Regional)
- March 22: L, 13-6
- May 3: L, 10-5
VIRGINIA (0-1) (No. 2 seed in Greenville Regional)
- April 6: L, 7-2
VIRGINIA TECH (0-2) (Regional host, No. 4 national seed)
- April 12: L, 10-6
- May 11: L, 2-1
KENNESAW STATE (4-4) (No. 3 seed in Hattiesburg Regional)
- April 14: W, 9-2
- April 15: W, 18-3
- April 15: L, 9-8
- May 19: L, 9-6
- May 20: L, 7-5
- May 21: W, 16-12
- May 26: W, 10-2
- May 28, L, 10-6
