Baseball update
The Flames’ baseball team continues their phenomenal run through conference play as they swept UNC-Asheville this past week. With the 3 wins, Liberty runs its conference record to 19-1. The Flames actually dropped in RPI to #22, but did jump into the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and Baseball America top 25 for the first time in school history, earlier this week. That’s a bit of news FlamesNation seemed to enjoy…

Most retweets
…our tweet stating the Flames moved into the top 25 for the first time in school history has registered the most retweets/favorites of any of FlamesNation’s prior tweets. It checks in, currently, with 55 retweets and 40 favorites.

NCAA hotties
Speaking of the baseball team, apparently there are a couple of “NCAA Hotties” on the team. Umm…I’ll just leave it at that…

FLAMESPY’s
This past Monday, the athletic department hosted their 3rd annual FLAMESPY awards. Over 20 awards were given out including Most Outstanding Team (Women’s swimming & diving), Best Championship Performance (Baseball), Best Male Athlete of the Year (Tennis’ Shea Thomas), Best Female Athlete of the Year (Field Hockey’s Natalie Barr), and Best Finish (Baseball’s Ashton Perritt). For a full list of awards recipients and photos, check out LibertyFlames.com.

Lucas Holder wants the Sun Belt
Redshirt-freshman offensive lineman Lucas Holder expressed his thoughts on the Sun Belt earlier this week. We feel you Lucas.

Des Rice out for 2014
Huge blow for the 2014 football team with the news that last year’s leading rusher, Des Rice, will miss the entire 2014 season due to a knee injury. This is the 2nd straight year the Flames have lost their top returning rusher as last season Aldreakis Allen missed the 2013 season due to a suspension and injury. With the news, D.J. Abnar should be expected to be the team’s starting running back when Liberty opens the 2014 season against North Carolina. Abnar rushed for 411 yards and 6 touchdowns a season ago, but can he prove to be an effective every down back?

Clifton Richardson no longer on roster
Chris Lang reports running back Clifton Richardson is no longer on the roster. Richardson had transferred last Summer to Liberty from the University of Virginia, but had a disappointing season with the Flames. He rushed for 399 yards and 6 touchdowns on 94 carries.

 

Depth Chart released
Coach Gill also released the post-Spring practice depth chart this week. Biggest takeaways from that are:

  • Javan Shashaty is listed as the backup quarterback as he has been able to hold off redshirt-freshman Stephon Masha.
  • Dakota Kelly, the younger brother of former Flame Pat Kelly, is listed as a backup to Gabe Henderson both at wide receiver and punt returner.
  • Darrin Peterson is listed as a starting kick returner, will be interesting to see if he holds on to that spot once the season gets started.
  • Nick Newman, who converted from safety to linebacker during the Spring, is listed as the backup at the WILL linebacker spot.
  • Maybe the most competitive spot during the Spring was at tight end. Dexter Herman and Kendall Couamin are listed at the top of the depth chart with West Virginia transfer Will Johnson and Canon Smith just behind them.

walt1Walt Aikens’ visits
Walt has made several visits to various NFL clubs over the past several weeks and months as he prepares for the NFL Draft. Some of the teams he has visited include the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, and Kansas City Chiefs. He’s also had private workouts with the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and Jacksonville Jaguars. (Source)

Tomasz & Ethan stuck on rollercoaster
Several Liberty athletes and students attended Kings Dominion this past weekend, but sounds like Tomasz Gielo and Ethan Layer had the most fun…

New poll
We have a new poll on the site for the month of May: What seed with the Liberty baseball team get in the NCAA tournament? Let us know your thoughts.

FlameFans thread of the week
With the train derailment that happened on Wednesday making national news, this week’s FlameFans thread of the week is the thread Train derailment discussing the event.