Liberty Flames Baseball Opens Season Against No. 9 Florida Gators

Following a season in which it reached the NCAA Regional Finals, the Liberty baseball team opens its 2022 season against the No. 9 University of Florida. 

The three-game series Feb. 18-20 in Gainesville, Florida, will be the first action of the season for both the Flames and the Gators. 

It will be a tough challenge for the Flames as Florida has been ranked as high as No. 6 in the country by Baseball America. The Gators finished their 2021 season at 38-22, making the NCAA Regionals where they lost their first two games to South Florida and South Alabama.

The Flames finished the 2021 season at 41-16, including a dominant 24-2 record at home and 19-2 against conference foes. 

Expectations will be high for Liberty as the team is coming off consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in 2019 and 2021. ASUN preseason polls have the Flames finishing first in the ASUN, and the players have also stacked up individual preseason awards.

Junior outfielder Jaylen Guy won the ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Redshirt-senior outfielder/infielder Aaron Anderson won the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, and sophomore pitcher Trey Gibson received the ASUN Preseason Pitcher of the Year. 

Anderson received special mention from Collegiate Baseball, being named to the Preseason Third All-American Team. He is the only player present from the ASUN to make the All-American team.

Gibson and Anderson joined Gray Betts and Brady Gulakowski on the preseason ASUN All-Conference team. Betts showed excitement for the upcoming season. 

“We’re ready to roll, everything’s panning out,” Betts said to LFSN. “We’ve got a great pitching staff lined up and a lot of new talent, so it’s really exciting to finally get together and get our 27 guys and get on the road down to Gainesville and just compete and win some ball games.” 

Betts begins the season with an impressive 2021 sophomore resume behind him in which he received All-Conference honors and maintained an outstanding .327 batting average. He was also the No. 26 catcher in the country, according to D1baseball.com. 

The 2022 season will be Head Coach Scott Jackson’s sixth year at the helm but the first since he signed a contract extension in August 2021 that keeps him in Lynchburg through the 2028 season. 

Jackson was voted as the 2021 ASUN Coach of the Year — the first time he has received that honor. 

Liberty has posted a 158-93 record since Jackson’s hiring in 2016, and notched consecutive 40-win seasons for the first time in program history. 

The Flames are ranked at No. 25 by Perfectgame.com in their preseason top-25, but the team will have to work hard to defeat the Gators to open the season with a win. Liberty’s home opener  is set for Feb. 23 at 4 p.m. against North Carolina A&T.

McCusker is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter