Liberty takes two of three from North Florida Ospreys in thrilling series

The Flames are clawing their way back into contention. After a rough start to the season that left Liberty 11-14 at the end of March, the Liberty Flames baseball team has fought its way to just one game below .500 after a weekend series win over North Florida. 

“I think overall, this weekend, I’m proud of our guys,” Flames Head Coach Scott Jackson said. “(Especially) for the fight on Friday night, and obviously we couldn’t come back yesterday, but to come out today with (junior right-hander) Mikey (Tepper) attacking them like he did (was good to see), and I thought he did a great job for us. I know he would have liked to have stayed out there longer, but we gave him five (innings), and he kind of ran with it. So, it was good to see.”

The Flames took two of the three games in the weekend series against ASUN opponent North Florida. In game one, a rough outing unfolded from Flames sophomore ace Garrett Horn, in which he allowed six runs to score on seven North Florida hits. The Flames entered the bottom of the seventh inning down 8-1 to the Ospreys, and then they caught fire. 

Junior catcher Three Hillier started the Flames off well by taking a thumper from the Ospreys pitcher and claiming his place on first. Back-to-back singles from junior shortstop Jake Lazzaro and freshman left fielder Kane Kepley advanced Hillier to third while loading the bases for the Flames slugging right fielder Camden Troyer. Troyer made the most of the juiced bases, bringing home all three baserunners with a three-run double. The Flames would score once more in the bottom of the seventh off a single from junior center fielder Jaylen Guy that brought home Troyer. 

The Flames finally had momentum as they entered the eighth down 8-5, and a quick 1-2-3 inning from Liberty senior reliever David Erikson brought the Liberty hitters back to the plate. A walk from junior DH Victor Castillo and a single from sophomore third baseman Cam Foster set the table to Hillier, who doubled down the right field line, scoring Castillo and advancing Foster to third. With two on base and the Flames down just two, Lazzaro came back up to the plate and absolutely blasted the ball over the right field wall. 

After going down 8-1, the Flames had come back to lead 9-8, and they weren’t done. Another pair of back-to-back singles, this time from Kepley and freshman first basemen Brayden Horton, along with a pitch that strayed too far inside and clipped Troyer loaded the bases yet again. A sacrifice from Guy, a double from senior second basemen Gray Betts and another sacrifice fly from Castillo pushed the Flames lead to four with a score of 12-8. 

The Flames, however, weren’t able to carry the momentum from their incredible comeback win into Saturday where they fell to the Ospreys 8-3.

With the weekend series split and both teams entering Sunday with hopes of walking away 2-1, it was the Flames who would start hot. A combination of RBI-singles from Troyer and Horton, some fielding errors from the Ospreys and a moonshot from Foster pushed the Flames out to a quick 5-0 lead by the end of the third. Unlike the Friday night matchup, there was to be no comeback, and the Flames held on to win 9-3. 

The three key performances for the Flames in their decisive victory came from Tepper, Guy and Foster. Tepper ended his day on the mound victorious, taking home his third win this season after allowing just one earned run in his 4.1 innings and punching out six North Florida batters. 

Guy, with two hits and one RBI, made his presence known on the basepaths. He ended the afternoon with three steals in the game, making himself the first Flame to do so since the 2022 season. Guy has 19 steals this season after 22 attempts, making him one of the most efficient baserunners in the entire NCAA. 

“Yeah, we’ll miss him when he’s gone, man,” Jackson said postgame. “I’m just so proud of him. He’s having the year that he’s having because he’s on base at a clip that I don’t think he’s been at in his career here. And so it stands out when he gets on and he’s able to use that speed. I mean, he just creates runs for us, and then, obviously, the defense, he prevents a lot of them. So, yeah, just one of those kids that I’m just lucky to say I’ve coached.”

Foster, who leads the Flames in home runs with eight, hit homers seven and eight against the Ospreys, ending with his first two-home run game as a Flame. 

“I haven’t done that since I’ve been here, so it’s good to get the bat head out in front of a few balls and hit them over,” Foster said. “I didn’t feel the first one at all, and second one I felt just a little bit I knew I still got it.” 

The Flames, who are now just one game away from having as many wins as they do losses, head into their next games knowing they’re moving in the right direction. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing where we finish,” Jackson said. “Because I think the best is yet to come. That’s for sure.”

Palsgrove is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter