fieldsFlames streak pushed to 7, ends
Liberty stretched their win strak to 7 with a win at Longwood last Saturday, its first ever win at Willett Hall. That was as far as the streak would climb though, as Radford knocked off the Flames in the final seconds on Thursday night. The loss drops the Flames to 9-6 in Big South play, 2 games behind Winthrop and UNC-Asheville for first place. Liberty is currently sitting in 5th place, 1 game behind 3rd place High Point, and a half game behind 4th place Coastal Carolina. If Liberty can remain in the top 5, they would clinch a first round bye in the Big South Tournament. Gardner-Webb is currently in 6th place at 9-7, with Radford in 7th place at 8-7. Mathematically, the Flames can still finish anywhere from first to 7th. Stay tuned as we will have plenty of coverage over the next couple of weeks as the regular season comes to a close and we move toward the Big South Tournament.

Basketball commits update

  • Brock Gardner continues to lead his team to wins. They will play for their 3rd state championship in 4 seasons and have reached the state championship all 4 years. Gardner had the game winning assist at the buzzer in the state quarterfinals.
  • Point guard Xzavier Barmore was named the South Carolina AAA State Player of the Year. Barmore is averaging 22.5 points, 5.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.8 steals per game for Seneca High School who is 22-2 on the season and has won 15 straight games.
  • Jay Barber has been named as one of 20 boys who have been nominated to the ABC13 Full Court Press first team. The 10 finalists will be announced on February 26th. Brody Hicks, who has already signed as a walk-on to Liberty, is also one of the 20 finalists. Barber and LCA lost Thursday night to EC Glass, ending their season. Barber is just a junior and will be back as a senior next year.

Women’s basketball update
The Lady Flames lost to UNC-Asheville last Saturday in their only game of the week. Liberty is now 12-3 in the Big South, and in 2nd place behind UNCA who is currently 14-2. LU hosts Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 4pm, just ahead of the men’s game against Presbyterian at 7pm.

Woodrum designated as “throwing QB” at NFL Combine
Josh Woodrum has been designated as 1 of 3 quarterbacks to serve as the throwing quarterbacks for the 2016 NFL Combine. Oregon’s Vernon Adams and Wisconsin’s Joel Stave will join Woodrum as the throwing QBs. These quarterbacks stay for the entire week and help throw passes for other positional groups. As Rotoworld states, “some evaluators are intrigued by Josh Woodrum.”

Softball opens 2-4
Liberty opened the 2016 softball season by going 2-4 last weekend in Florida. The Lady Flames defeated Morgan State and Stetson while losing to #5 Alabama, #17 UCF, Chattanooga, and Bethune-Cookman. Sophomore catcher Alexia Taylor was named the Big South Player of the Week following her performance. Taylor, who was the 2015 Big South Freshman of the Year, had a .400 batting average with 2 doubles and 6 runs. Dot Richardson’s squad gets back to action this weekend in Texas with 5 games against the likes of North Texas #21 Baylor, and Northwestern State. 

Baseball season begins
Jim Toman and the Flames begin their 2016 season this weekend in Tampa, Florida with a 3-game series with South Florida. Liberty is also scheduled to face William & Mary on February 23rd in Lynchburg. The Flames are scheduled to make their home debut March 4-6 with a 3-game series with UConn. This weekend’s projected starters are Carson Herndon, Victor Cole, and Michael Stafford.

Hagen named minor league coach for Rangers
Liberty alum Matt Hagen has been hired by the Texas Rangers to coach in their farm system. He finished his Liberty career in 2002 and then spent 11 years in the minors, ascending as high as the AA level. Hagen will be a coach with the Hickory Crawdads, a Single-A club in Hickory, North Carolina.

FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is 2016 NFL Draft Discussion.