Liberty (28-11) (13-5) continued their red-hot stretch this week as the Flames picked up three wins, another huge road midweek victory at Duke, as well as a statement Conference USA series win on the road at Dallas Baptist. Now winners of 13 of their last 15 games, Liberty continues to surge up the CUSA standings as we head into late April.

Tuesday: LIBERTY 17, DUKE 7

Liberty won their third consecutive road midweek game against an ACC opponent in Durham on Tuesday night.

The Flames erupted for five home runs, highlighted by a historic night from Nick Barone, to roll past Duke 17-7 Tuesday night at Jack Coombs Field. Barone launched three home runs and drove in six runs, becoming the first Flame to hit three homers in a game since 2022. This game saw no shortage of runs, as the Blue Devils and Flames went back and forth with the game tied at 7-7 heading into the fifth. Liberty would add three in the fifth and then seven more insurance runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, pulling away to win by ten runs. The sixth inning was the only inning in the entire game in which a run was not scored.

Aside from Barone’s big day, Josh Campos and Kyle Hvidsten turned in great performances as well. Campos recorded his eighth multi-hit game of the season with three total hits, and Hvidsten went 2-2 with a walk, scoring four runs and homering in his third consecutive game. Reliever Jackson Evans picked up the win, giving up one run in one inning of work. Brandon Dalhman likely put forth the best performance on the mound for the Flames, just allowing a single hit and no runs in three innings of relief. After a shaky start, the Flames’ arms blanked the Blue Devils from the fifth inning on, allowing the Liberty offense to score ten unanswered runs. 

Friday Game 1: LIBERTY 17, DALLAS BAPTIST 3

Liberty’s bats stayed blazing hot in Game 1 of the weekend series vs Dallas Baptist, as the Flames plated 17 runs for a second consecutive game, run-ruling the Patriots, 17-3.

Liberty actually trailed 2-1 early in this one before having monster innings in the third and fourth. The Flames scored six runs in the third and ten in the fourth to balloon their lead to 16-2. DBU was only able to muster a solo home run in the 7th as the game ended early with a final score of 17-3.

Liberty’s Ace Ben Blair returned to his normal self, recording the win in the start after only allowing two runs on five hits over five innings pitched. Four different Flames recorded multi-hit games in this one (Marsh, DeCandido, Scilley, Campos). 1B Jaxon Sorenson especially had a day, marking his career high in hits in a game with four, Sorenson went 4-5 with a home run and three RBIs. 

Liberty outhit DBU 16-7 in Game 1 in the victory and handed the Patriots their worst loss at Horner Ballpark since 2015. The Flames are now a perfect 3-0 in Conference USA series openers on the road.

Saturday Game 2: LIBERTY 6, DALLAS BAPTIST 7

Dallas Baptist scored four runs late to erase a Liberty lead and even the series, Saturday night. 

The Flames appeared to have another series win secured after Josh Campos delivered a two-run home run in the eighth to extend the Flames’ lead to 6-3. However, the Patriots answered immediately in the bottom half, capitalizing on two walks and a leadoff single before Chayton Krauss delivered the decisive swing with a three-run homer to give DBU a 7-6 lead heading into the final frame. Liberty had runners in scoring position to potentially tie or take the lead in the ninth, but was unable to do so as the Patriots shut the door.

Cooper Harrington takes the loss for the Flames after surrendering four runs on two hits in the eighth inning. Liberty outhit DBU 9-8 and left 11 men stranded on base as the Flames saw their seven-game road winning streak come to an end.

Sunday Game 3: LIBERTY 9, DALLAS BAPTIST 8

The Flames found themselves on the better end of the series’ second consecutive one-run ballgame on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Patriots 9-8 to secure the series.

Trailing 7-2 in the fifth inning, Liberty sent 12 men to the plate and scored six runs to take an 8-7 lead. The Flames impressively scored all six runs with two outs in the inning. Dallas Baptist would tie the game in the bottom of the inning before Landon Scilley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which would send home the winning run for the Flames in the top of the seventh inning. 

Tyler August secured the win for the Flames, striking out a career-high six batters and holding the Patriots scoreless in three innings, from the sixth to the eighth. Cooper Harrington followed with a great recovery from Game 2, shutting the door on DBU in the ninth and recording the save. Riley DeCandido maintained his team-leading streak of 28 consecutive games of reaching base safely, thanks to being hit by a pitch in the fifth inning. Tanner Marsh led the Liberty bats with a 4-hit game (his second 4-hit game of the year). He leads all Flames with 17 total multi-hit games. 

With the series win, Liberty grabs solo control of third place in the CUSA standings, as the Flames and Patriots came into this weekend tied. The Flames still trail Missouri State by a game and Jacksonville State by three games in the conference. 

UP NEXT: 

Liberty (28-11) (13-5) continues to build an excellent at-large resume and will have a couple more opportunities to improve the resume this week during the midweek frames. The Flames open the week with the Duke Blue Devils (22-20) (8-13) once again, who will travel to Lynchburg for Round 2 of the series on Tuesday night. The Blue Devils are coming off a tough 0-4 week, losing at home to Liberty and followed that by getting swept in the weekend series to #24 Boston College. First pitch is scheduled for 6PM and you can watch the game on ESPN+. The following day, the Flames will take a short road trip up Rt.29 to Charlottesville to face the 10th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers (28-13) (12-9). UVA defeated Liberty earlier in the season, snuffing out a late-game comeback from the Flames to secure a 14-12 victory in Lynchburg. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 6 PM on Wednesday at Disharoon Park. You can watch the game on the ACCNX.

The Flames will then host Conference USA newcomer Delaware (11-29) (1-17) at home for the weekend series. The Blue Hens have struggled mightily this season, having won just one conference game to date, against Dallas Baptist back in March. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6 PM on Worthington Field. You can watch the entire series on ESPN+.

AT-Large Case?

Liberty is putting together a strong case for an at-large bid, should the Flames not win the CUSA Tournament. Liberty currently stands at 26th in the country in RPI, with a 3-5 Quad 1 record. Liberty’s Quad 1 wins come at home against West Virginia and on the road against High Point and NC State. As things currently stand, Liberty will have two more Quad 1 opportunities on their schedule, one of which is coming this week vs Virginia, making the game all the more important. While that game is crucial, so is the three-game CUSA series vs last placed Delaware this weekend. Not only do the Flames want to sweep the Blue Hens to stay in the hunt for the Conference USA regular season title, but the Blue Hens’ ratings are so low that even one loss this weekend could really be a stain on the Flames’ resume and at-large case. 

Conference USA Standings

| Team | CUSA | Overall |
| Jax State | 16-2 | 33-8 |
| Missouri State | 14-4 | 26-11 |
| Liberty | 13-5 | 28-11 |
| Dallas Baptist | 12-6 | 23-17 |
| LA Tech | 11-7 | 24-17 |
| MTSU | 8-10 | 21-19 |
| WKU | 7-11 | 20-20 |
| Kennesaw State | 7-11 | 17-19 |
| Sam Houston | 7-11 | 17-23 |
| NM State | 7-11 | 16-22 |
| FIU | 5-13 | 13-26 |
| Delaware | 1-17 | 11-29 |

Liberty sits in third place in Conference USA at 13-5, continuing its push up the standings after another key series win, trailing only Jax State and Missouri State.