In a pivotal ASUN matchup, Flames baseball salvaged just one win out of three against the Lipscomb Bisons over the weekend, continuing its season of ups and downs.
After losing the first two games by one run each, the Flames left Nashville with a single victory on the backend of the series to fall to 12-15 overall and 4-5 in conference play.
Stellar pitching and lockdown defense defined the first game of the series as the Bisons slipped past the Flames 2-1. Liberty freshman first baseman Brayden Horton drove in Liberty’s lone home run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. In the bottom of the first, the Bisons scored their only two runs of the game — a solo home run from center fielder Alex Vergara and an inside-the-park home run scored by third baseman Trace Willhoite.
From there, the scoring cooled, and the pitching heated up. In his first start of the season, Bison’s junior left-hander, Logan Van Treeck, pitched a complete game, allowing only one run on three hits over the nine innings.
Liberty’s sophomore starting pitcher Garret Horn took the loss after allowing two runs on seven hits in the first four-plus innings. Junior reliever Trey Carter kept the Bisons away from home plate, pitching four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. Nevertheless, Van Treeck’s eight-inning shutout led the Bisons to victory.
While the following day saw more offensive action, the Bisons showed their supremacy once again, toppling the Flames 8-7. After five scoreless innings, the sixth and seventh innings saw 14 runs batted in. Horton’s single, one of three for him on the day, sent sophomore outfielder Camden Troyer home. Soon after, junior shortstop Jake Lazzaro’s RBI bunt and sophomore third baseman Cam Foster’s RBI single extended the Liberty lead to 3-0.
The Bisons responded, however, with a two-run round-tripper by Vergara and a double RBI single from junior Jake Berg to capture a 4-3 lead. Liberty junior outfielder Jaylen Guy, who sat out last season due to injury, blasted a two-run home run to regain the lead for the Flames. Guy’s go-ahead home run was his first since his grand slam moonshot in Liberty’s 15-4 win over Duke two years prior. Still, the Bisons responded yet again with two runs scored in the seventh inning to win 8-7.
Despite the back-to-back losses, the weekend ended on a high note for the Flames as they cruised to a 9-4 victory at Ken Dugan Field. Liberty junior pitcher Mikey Tepper was awarded the win after pitching more than six innings and throwing for a season-high 13 strikeouts. However, it was senior right-hander Cole Garrett who earned the save for the Flames. After a two-run home run by Lipscomb’s Caleb Ketchup cut the Liberty lead to 6-4, the senior out of Georgia stepped onto the mound with one out and two men on in the bottom of the eighth. Garrett swiftly ended any hopes of a Bison comeback, striking out the next two batters. Finally, Horton sent the Bisons home with a three-run home run in the ninth, giving him six RBIs on five hits over the weekend.
Liberty baseball returns to the Mountain this weekend with another crucial ASUN matchup when the Flames play host to the Central Arkansas Bears from April 6-8 at Worthington Field.
Rivas is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter