Flames win Winthrop series
Strong pitching, solid defense kept Friday’s double header close
Steven Evans trotted off the mound, blew some warm breath over his fingers and nodded to the crowd applauding his six-strikeout effort in game three of Liberty’s weekend series against Winthrop. Three innings later he watched the final out recorded and Liberty’s record improve to 14-11 (5-1 BSC) as the Flames took two out of three from the Eagles.
Ace of K’s — Junior right-hander John Niggli racked up seven strikeouts, one out shy of a complete game. Starters Keegan Linza, Niggli and Steven Evans combined for 18 total strikeouts over the course of the weekend. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby
The Flames opened the series with a 5-2 win in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader. Winthrop out-hit Liberty 9-6, but games are not won by hits alone. Winthrop’s three errors allowed the Flames to move runners into scoring positions more often than the Eagles.
But despite exemplary defensive effort against the Eagles, the Flames did not produce enough hits in the second game. Poor offense by the Flames, along with an error in the ninth inning, allowed the Eagles to obtain the win.
“(John) Niggli and our pitching staff have been great. Our hitters did not compete,” head coach Jim Toman said. “We’ve been standing by and letting our pitchers throw complete games and help us to wins. Our hitters haven’t done nearly enough. We were disappointed in their competitiveness.”
The Eagles pitcher for the second game, Robert Lake, pitched a good game and only let the Flames get a total of five hits. Although Lake’s stats have only been mediocre so far this year, both Toman and senior second baseman Austin Taylor said Lake deserves credit for his performance Friday night, which was his first win this season.
“His numbers going into the game haven’t been great, so someone’s been hitting them,” Toman said. “We certainly didn’t.”
In Saturday’s rubber-game finale, the Flames offense came alive.
Shortstop Matt Williams collected five RBIs on four hits to lead the team’s 20-hit performance en route to a 16-7 routing of the Eagles.
Taylor batted four runs in, including a three-run blast over the wall.
The Eagles were held scoreless after six innings while the Flames racked up 12 runs. A seventh-inning Winthrop rally proved in vain in light of the cavernous deficit the Eagles faced. Liberty’s advantage was insurmountable.
The Flames begin a four-game road trip to Richmond, Va. to take on Virginia Commonwealth University March 29 and Conway, S.C., to battle Coastal Carolina April 1 through April 3. The April 2 Coastal Carolina game will be featured on ESPNU airing at 4 p.m.