Still in the Game: Classes are over, but LU student-athletes wind up seasons with plenty of action

With the academic year ending and tassels turned this past weekend, the majority of Liberty University’s student body has left campus for summer internships and employment opportunities. But many of Liberty’s student-athletes are still keeping the Flames spirit alive as they conclude regular season action or will begin postseason play in the coming days.

Follow the action at LibertyFlames.com and Liberty.edu/Club Sports.

BASEBALL

Liberty Baseball, currently 30-16 overall with a 16-8 conference record, will play Wednesday evening in Blacksburg to take on No. 5 Virginia Tech before playing a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast University. They will then travel back to Lynchburg to play High Point University on May 17 before finishing the regular season at home with a three-game series against Kennesaw State University. The Flames have now won 30 or more games for 17-straight seasons and moved into first place in the ASUN East Division this past weekend.

SOFTBALL

The Flames Softball team, having finished the regular season with a 40-16 overall record and an impressive ASUN Conference record 23-win record in ASUN Conference games, will prepare to play in the ASUN Conference tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. on Thursday afternoon. They enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Lady Flames have now won 40 or more games in each of the last five completed seasons and are one of only six teams in the nation to do so. They also took home 19 postseason awards from the ASUN Conference this week, including Coach of the Year (Dot Richardson), Player of the Year (Caroline Hudson), Defensive Player of the Year (Caroline Hudson), Pitcher of the Year (Emily Kirby), and Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Karlie Keeney).

MEN’S GOLF

After coming in third out of 12 teams in the ASUN Men’s Golf Championship, the Flames golf team will compete at the NCAA Men’s Golf Regionals in Stockton, Calif., next week. The Flames received an at-large berth following a season where it consistently ranked among the top 50 teams in the country (as high as No. 22). The Flames will be the No. 7 seed at the NCAA Stockton Regional, May 16-18. The three-day, 54-hole event will be contested at The Reserve at Spanos Park (par 72, 7,132 yards). The Flames are making their sixth NCAA Regionals appearance as an at-large selection in program history and the first since 2019. In total, Liberty is making the program’s 12^th appearance at an NCAA Men’s Golf Regional and the 10^th in the last 11 regional events.

TRACK & FIELD

Both Liberty’s Men’s and Women’s Track & Field teams will look to defend their team titles at the 2022 ASUN Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 12-14 at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Both programs have won the title each year since joining the ASUN in 2018 (with the exception of 2020, when the championship was canceled). Liberty has captured 14 straight men’s outdoor conference titles and has been victorious at each of its last 30 men’s indoor & outdoor conference championship appearances. That streak began at the 2007 Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships. Liberty’s women’s team has won six outdoor track & field championships in a row and will be looking for its 19^th overall track & field conference title.

LACROSSE

Liberty’s No. 6-seeded men’s lacrosse team cleared No. 11 Grand Canyon University in the first round of the MCLA Division I National Championships on Monday, winning 11-8 at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex near Austin, Texas. With the victory, the Flames advance to Tuesday’s 6:45 p.m. (EST) quarterfinal against No. 3 South Carolina. The contest will be a rematch of Liberty’s national quarterfinal loss in 2019, when the Gamecocks went on to win the last official national tournament before COVID-19.

CREW

The Flames’ and Lady Flames’ crew teams have rowed to strong finishes throughout their regattas this spring and will finish out the season at the May 20-21 American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn.