The Liberty Flames baseball team has advanced to the 2023 ASUN Baseball Championship following the conclusion of the regular season. The ASUN Tournament will begin Tuesday, May 23 with Liberty taking on regular season champion Lipscomb at 10 a.m. All games will be played at Melching Field at Conrad Park in DeLand, Florida.
The Flames picked up wins on Thursday and Friday to open the series against Bellarmine before falling on Saturday in the series and regular season finale. With the series win, Liberty clinched a spot in this week’s ASUN Tournament where the Flames will look to advance to another NCAA Regional.
Liberty finished the regular season with a 26-28 overall record and 16-14 mark in conference play. The Flames finished the year with the 6th best conference record but have secured the #3 seed in this week’s ASUN Tournament thanks to having the second highest RPI in the league at 92.
After the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight regular season finishing teams have advanced to the ASUN Tournament. The regular season champ, Lipscomb, gets the #1 seed while the rest of the teams are seeded 2-7 based off RPI. FGCU got the 2-seed thanks to their RPI of 68.
Here’s the final look at the ASUN standings following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season:
ASUN STANDINGS
*Lipscomb 23-7 ASUN, 33-22 overall
*FGCU 20-10 ASUN, 38-17 overall
*Stetson 20-10 ASUN, 33-22 overall
*Jacksonville State 18-12 ASUN, 25-28 overall
*Jacksonville 17-13 ASUN, 33-22 overall
*Liberty 16-14 ASUN, 26-28
*Eastern Kentucky 15-15 ASUN, 28-28 overall
*Austin Peay 15-15 ASUN, 25-30 overall
Kennesaw State 14-16 ASUN, 25-29 overall
Central Arkansas 14-16 ASUN, 23-31 overall
North Florida 13-17 ASUN, 28-27 overall
Queens 9-21 ASUN, 17-28 overall
North Alabama 8-22 ASUN, 14-37 overall
Bellarmine 8-22 ASUN, 13-40 overall
Lipscomb, FGCU, Stetson, Jacksonville State, Jacksonville, Liberty, Eastern Kentucky, and Austin Peay secured their spots in the tournament. Defending champion Kennesaw State was eliminated from contention on the regular season’s final out.
These eight teams will be split up into two pools consisting of four teams each. Teams will play three games in pool play, one against each team in its pool. Four teams will then advance to the semifinals with the two semifinal winners advancing to meet for the ASUN Championship and automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The top three teams from Pool A will advance to the semifinals while only the top team from Pool B will advance to the semifinals.
The tiebreakers for advancement out of pool play will be head to head result in pool play for a two-way tie. For three way ties, head to head among the three will be used first. If that doesn’t break the tie, the highest seeded team will advance.
Here’s how the teams will be split into pool play this week:
Pool A
1. Lipscomb
2. FGCU
3. Liberty
4. Jacksonville
The top 3 finishers in Pool A will advance to semifinals.
Pool B
5. Stetson
6. Eastern Kentucky
7. Jacksonville State
8. Austin Peay
Pool B winner will advance to semifinals.
Here’s the schedule for this year’s ASUN Tournament with all games scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+:
Tuesday, May 23
Pool A #1 Lipscomb vs #3 Liberty, 10 a.m.
Pool A #2 FGCU vs #4 Jacksonville, 2:30 p.m.
Pool B #5 Stetson vs #6 Eastern Kentucky, 7 p.m.
OFF: #7 Jacksonville State, #8 Austin Peay
Wednesday, May 24
Pool A #3 Liberty vs #4 Jacksonville, 10 a.m.
Pool B #5 Stetson vs #7 Jacksonville State, 2:30 p.m.
Pool B #6 Eastern Kentucky vs #8 Austin Peay, 7 p.m.
OFF: #1 Lipscomb, #2 FGCU
Thursday, May 25
Pool A #1 Lipscomb vs #2 FGCU, 10 a.m.
Pool B #5 Stetson vs #8 Austin Peay, 2:30 p.m.
Pool B #6 Eastern Kentucky vs #7 Jacksonville State, 7 p.m.
OFF: #3 Liberty, #4 Jacksonville
Friday, May 26
Pool A #1 Lipscomb vs #4 Jacksonville, 10 a.m.
Pool A #2 FGCU vs #3 Liberty, 2:30 p.m.
Pool B #7 Jacksonville State vs #8 Austin Peay, 7 p.m.
OFF: #5 Stetson, #6 Eastern Kentucky
Saturday, May 27
#1 Qualifier Pool A vs #1 Qualifier Pool B, 11 a.m.
#2 Qualifier Pool A vs #3 Qualifier Pool A, 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 28
Championship Final, 1 p.m.
