Flames fall to KSU Owls

The Liberty University Baseball team fell to Kennesaw State University (KSU) dropping to 7-11 in Conference USA (CUSA) in a weekend series April 25-27 at Worthington Field at the Liberty Baseball Stadium.  

Heading into the weekend, Liberty lost to Wake Forest University 6-4 April 22, following a previous win against them earlier in the season. 

Friday night under the lights, the Owls could not be defeated in game one, ending in a 10-9 win.  

Starting the series on the mound, senior right-handed pitcher Jake Potts pitched four innings allowing five hits, three earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts.  

In the top of the lineup, freshman infielder Landon Scilley started the Flames off with a triple which led the Flames to collect three runs in the first inning. KSU responded in the second with a solo home run to put them on the board. After another round of hits, the Flames increased their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the third.  

Shortly after, sophomore infielder Tanner Marsh fired off a drive to the scoreboard, bringing in a home run that pushed Liberty to 7-1 heading into the fifth inning. KSU began its comeback as the team secured three runs in the fifth. Not stopping there, the Owls racked up five more runs in the top of the sixth, securing the lead 9-7. 

 In the bottom of the sixth, junior outfielder Nick Barone reached base on an error, attempting to cut the deficit as Marsh passed home plate, pushing Liberty back up 9-8.  

With three innings left for the Flames to take back the lead, senior outfielder Camden Troyer scored off junior infielder Easton Swofford’s RBI, tying the score 9-9. The Owls jumped back on top in the eighth, taking the lead 10-9 in game one of the series.  

In game two, on Saturday, Liberty tied up the series against KSU with a 6-3 win.  

Each team scored a single run off a fielder’s choice in the first inning. Redshirt junior outfielder Michael Robertson secured an RBI, allowing junior utility Michael Gibson to score in the fourth.  

The Flames collected two more runs in the fifth as Troyer doubled and Barone hit a two-run home run. KSU scored their second run in the sixth inning, but Liberty was not done yet as Barone doubled and Troyer scored.  

With the Owls notching one last run, the final score was 6-3 in Liberty’s favor.  

The pitching duo for the Flames for game two was sophomore right-handed pitcher Ben Blair and sophomore left-handed pitcher Josh Swink. Blair had nine strikeouts, and Swink had four, collecting a total of 13 strikeouts for Liberty.  

The Owls secured a win in game three to close out the conference series.  

Despite a solid start from the Flames, they could not make a comeback after the mound gave up some pivotal runs.  

“That’s what good hitters do, they take advantage of mistakes,” Head Coach Bradley LeCroy said. “… They got all the momentum. … We tried to battle back but just couldn’t keep them off the board.” 

Liberty collected three runs in the first inning. In the second inning, Troyer sent his tenth home run of the season over the fence to bring the score to 5-0 heading into the third inning.  

KSU began their comeback in the third inning with a solo home run from redshirt senior left fielder Nick Anderson. Anderson also hit a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning, increasing the Owls’ score to 6-5.  

On a fielder’s choice, Liberty scored another run in the fifth inning. For the Owls, Anderson collected more runs throughout the sixth and seventh innings, and with a total of eight RBIs on the day, he set the school record for KSU. 

The Flames scored their final run in the seventh inning with a double from Troyer to send Scilley home. The final score was 15-7 as KSU took the win in the weekend series.  

“It’s frustrating. … We have to keep grinding and keep working,” LeCroy said. “Still got a lot to play for.”  

Next up, the Flames travel to Huntsville, Texas for a weekend series against Sam Houston State University May 2-4.