Flames Edge Ospreys 5-4, Saturday

The Liberty Flames built a 5-2 advantage and then held off the visiting North Florida Ospreys for a 5-4 victory, Saturday afternoon in an ASUN Conference contest at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.

UNF battled back, cutting the Liberty lead to 5-4 in the eighth inning and moved the tying run to second in the ninth with one out, but Flames' reliever Mason Fluharty struck out the next two batters to close out the victory.

Flames right-hander Dylan Cumming pitched seven solid innings to record the victory. The senior allowed three runs on nine hits. He struck out a career-high nine and walked three.

Liberty takes the first two games of the three-game conference series. The Flames move to 25-12 overall and 11-6 in ASUN Conference play. North Florida falls to 16-24 overall and 6-11 in the conference.

Box Score Highlights

Records: North Florida (16-24, 6-11 ASUN); Liberty (25-12, 11-6 ASUN)

Location: Lynchburg, Va. (Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium)

WP: Dylan Cumming (4-1) | LP: Peter Holden (2-2) | SV: Mason Fluharty (1)

Scoring Summary

1^st INNING – UNF – Sweatt singles, Edge and Byars score, 2-0

2^nd INNING – LIBERTY – Gulakowski singles, Mathieu scores, 2-1

3^rd INNING – LIBERTY – Hillier singles, Anderson scores, 2-2

3^rd INNING – LIBERTY – Hill bunt single, Orndorff scores, 3-2

3^rd INNING – LIBERTY – Mathieu singles Hillier scores, 4-2

3^rd INNING – LIBERTY – Keeter singles, Hill scores, 5-2

6^th INNING – UNF – Gerteisen singles, Leach scores, 5-3

8^th INNING – UNF – Gerteisen doubles, Holmes scores, 5-4

Notable Numbers

- North Florida outhit Liberty, 13-9. UNF committed two errors. Liberty made one.

- Liberty left seven men on base. North Florida left 12.

- Fluharty records his first save of the year. The reliever allowed one run on four hits over two innings. He struck out five and walked one.

- Flames' third baseman Stephen Hill and first baseman Logan Mathieu had each had two hits in the game. Both players also had an RBI and a run scored.

- UNF Peter Holden takes the loss. The Osprey starter gave up five runs on eight hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked three.

- UNF Center fielder Tyler Gerteisen had a game-high three hits. He also drove in two runs for the Ospreys.

The Turning Point

After closing to within one run in the top of the eighth, North Florida was to get two men on with one out in the ninth. With the tying run on second and the go-ahead run at first, Fluharty first struck out catcher Dallen Leach and then followed by striking out designated hitter Drew Leinenbach for the game's final out.

Beyond the Box Score

- For only the fourth time this season, Liberty wins when being outhit this season (4-11).

- Cumming has pitched seven or more innings in each of his last three starts, recording the win in each contest.

- Hill recorded his 13^th multi-hit game of the year. He is second on the team to Aaron Anderson who has 17.

- Mathieu posts his ninth multi-hit game of the season. The first baseman has hit .400 over the last 10 games, including six games with two or more hits.

Next Up

Liberty and North Florida will meet in the final game of their series at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium, tomorrow. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.