Flames baseball team preps for 2020 campaign as they look to repeat as ASUN champions

After conquering new challenges in 2019, the Liberty Flames baseball team has one goal for the 2020 season: the super regional.

Liberty romped through the ASUN in its first year in the conference, winning 15 conference games and 41 games in total and eventually winning the ASUN conference tournament. But the joys of winning came to an end in the double-elimination bracket of the NCAA regional. The Flames lost back-to-back games against North Carolina and Tennessee, including an especially disappointing performance against the Tar Heels June 1, losing 16-1.

“The goal for us is to get back to another regional,” Head Coach Scott Jackson said. “This program has never been to a super regional, and I want to do that here. It comes down to giving yourself a chance to win those games.”

“I would like to win a regional this year,” sophomore catcher Gray Betts said. “That’s now the normal for us, and so we have to set the bar higher.”

Senior Cam Locklear agreed.

“For the team, I want nothing more than to get back to a regional and advance to a super regional,” Locklear said. “I don’t have any personal goals for personal achievement other than ‘What can I do to help the team win?’ Everything is fun when you are winning like that.”

Both Locklear and Betts were part of the ASUN all-tournament team in 2019 and played in the regional, where they are hoping to learn from the tough losses they experienced.

Even a tough loss against North Carolina provided valuable experience for the team, and the Flames are bringing back a veteran squad comfortable in the moments when the lights are brightest. The three regular starting pitchers, the back end of the bullpen and seven of the nine bats from last year’s ASUN tournament are back
this season. 

“A lot of our lineup is coming back from that regional,” Locklear said. “We know the work and sacrifice it takes.”

Having already won the conference and featured in an NCAA regional, the Flames continue to challenge themselves with goals, and a super regional appearance would be the first in program history, and the farthest Liberty has ever advanced in the NCAA tournament. 

In order to meet his goals, Jackson will need to fill a couple significant holes in his defense and lineup from 2019. Catcher Jonathan Embry, who led the Flames in home runs, slugging percentage and runs scored, graduated and was drafted in the 10th round of the MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. Logan Mathieu, the ASUN’s 2019 RBI leader, suffered a full ACL tear in the offseason and will not feature for the Flames at first base in 2020. 

But Liberty is primed with talent, especially experienced senior talent ready to step up and continue to improve.

“From a coaching standpoint, it makes you sleep well at night,” Jackson said. “We have three seniors in the lineup who have done it a lot. We’re going to ask three guys to pitch on the weekend for us who were starters last year. We are bringing back seven players whose heartbeats will not go up in the batter’s box against some of those best teams.”

Betts led the team in batting average in 2019, and he hopes to improve at the plate again this season, especially in making better use of the contact he gets on the ball.

“Getting stronger is my goal,” Betts said. “I want to get a few more extra base hits and produce a
little more.”

Any player at Liberty’s baseball program can expect to face difficult opponents, and Jackson has a strategy to help his players be comfortable in those moments.

“I don’t know any other way to do it,” Jackson said. “If you aspire to have your program be in the conversation for a NCAA bid and be in the discussion on a national stage, then I think you really have to challenge yourself.”

To help his players perform best in pressure situations, Jackson intentionally puts his players in as many high-leverage moments as possible, especially with the way he schedules his nonconference schedule. 

This year will be no different, with the Flames team traveling to Clemson, East Carolina, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia. Jackson knows these teams are possible opponents in a regional tournament, and he believes that giving his team opportunities against them early in the season could have a benefit in the postseason. Last season, the Flames scheduled both UNC and Tennessee in the regular season and played them both in the regional as well.

“We show up in a regional, and we have already played both those teams in the regular season,” Jackson said. “It lets you get down to what really matters when you are not distracted by the location or stadium. We can focus on what matters, which is getting ready to play.”

When competing against the best competition, Jackson relies heavily on his pitching staff and defense and is opportunistic with chances his team can score. With Mason Meyer, Noah Skirrow and Joe Adametz starting most games and an experienced, deeper bullpen led by Garret Price, who ranked top five in ERA in the conference last season, Jackson believes his team will have a chance to compete against anyone.

“It comes down to giving yourself a chance to win those games,” Jackson said. “We can limit our opponent by pitching and playing defense consistently. That’s always been the formula in baseball, and then we can score in a variety of ways by getting on base and showing plate discipline. Once you get runners on, anything can happen.”

In its opening series of the season against Clemson, Liberty dropped all three road games against the Tigers, but the team is taking away positives, especially for their new additions. In the middle game Saturday, catcher Brady Gulakowski and designated hitter Garret Wilkinson each recorded their first hits as Flames.

Gulakowski already has four hits in his 12 plate appearances, and Ben Highfill recorded the first home run of the season for the Flames on Sunday. From the mound, both Meyer and Skirrow recorded impressive starts, with a 1.80 and 1.50 ERA respectively.

The Flames (0-3) will open their home schedule Tuesday, Feb. 18, against Radford (3-0). First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Flames will continue their home stand in a weekend series Feb. 21-23 against Seton Hall.

Wylie is the assistant sports editor. Keep up with him on Twitter.