Liberty had a perfect week, winning all four games, to improve to 21-8 overall and 8-1 in ASUN play this season. The Flames remain unbeaten at home this year at 13-0 and have won 15 straight contests at Liberty Baseball Stadium dating back to last season. It is currently the fifth longest home winning streak in the country.

WEDNESDAY: LIBERTY 8, WAKE FOREST 4

Wake Forest scored a run in the top of the first before the Flames responded with five runs in the first two innings. Trey McDyre’s two-out, two-run single in the first started the scoring for Liberty who led 2-1 at the end of the first. In the second inning, Liberty had two doubles and two triples in the inning as they scored three additional runs to grab a 5-1 lead. Two more runs would score on a Cam Locklear double in the 6th inning to finish the scoring for the Flames on the afternoon.

Mason Hand got the start and allowed one run in 1.1 innings. Mason Meyer, as he has made the move to the bullpen after beginning the season as the team’s Saturday starter, got the win after throwing 2.2 innings and allowing just 1 run. David Erickson and Cade Hungate kept the Demon Deacons off the scoreboard in the 5th and 6th inning as the Flames improved to 4-1 against ACC opponents this season.

FRIDAY: LIBERTY 4, LIPSCOMB 1

Jaylen Guy’s defensive heroics helped lead the Flames to a win Friday night at Liberty Baseball Stadium. With the Flames leading 2-1 in the top of the 7th inning, the Bisons had loaded the bases with one-out. Guy made a spectacular play on a pop fly hit to short left center field, making a diving catch. He then quickly got to his feet and fired a strike to home play to get the double play and the Flames out of the jam.

Trey McDyre helped add some insurance runs for Liberty with his two-out, two-RBI double in the 7th inning to push the Flames ahead 4-1.

Trevor DeLaite got the win and Mason Meyer, who has made the move to the bullpen after beginning the season as Liberty’s Saturday starter, picked up the save. DeLaite pitched 6.1 innings, allowing one run on 7 hits as he struck out 4 and walked none. Meyer pitched 2 innings without allowing a base runner and striking out three.

SATURDAY: LIBERTY 18, LIPSCOMB 1

Freshman pitcher Nick Willard made his first career start for the Flames as he’s moved into the weekend rotation. Willard pitched 4 innings of no-hit baseball without allowing a run to pick up the win, his first decision of his collegiate career. David Erickson, Trey Carter, Christian Gordon, Cole Garrett, and Mason Fluharty only allowed 4 hits and 1 run the rest of the way.

Liberty broke the game open in the home half of the third inning with seven runs.Trey McDyre had a two RBI single and Garrett Wilkinson had a two RBI double in the inning. Gray Betts and Aaron Anderson added RBI singles to round out the scoring. The Flames’ bats continued their hot streak in the 4th as Cam Locklear led off the inning with a home run, and Logan Mathieu added a three-run shot just a few batters later. Mathieu would finish with two home runs on the afternoon.

SUNDAY: LIBERTY 5, LIPSCOMB 4

Lipscomb took an early 1-0 lead before the Flames answered with 5 straight runs, plating runners in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th innings. Brady Gulakowski had two RBIs on the afternoon, including a solo home run in the 6th, Liberty’s final run of the game. Gray Betts’ double in the 4th brought around two runs and pushed the Liberty lead to 4-1.

Trailing 5-1 entering the top of the 9th, the Bisons didn’t go down without a fight. Facing Mason Meyer on the mound, Lipscomb drilled a two-run home run with nobody out to open the inning. The Bisons then moved runners to 2nd and 3rd with only one out. Lipscomb had an RBI ground out to 2nd on a well played ball by Flames’ second baseman Will Wagner, to cut the deficit to one and move a runner to 3rd with 2 outs. Meyer got the final out of the game on a groundout as the Flames escaped.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: JAYLEN GUY

Guy doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his defensive play much of the time, as it is many times overshadowed by his struggles at the plate. This week was different though. The center fielder’s week got off to a great start against Wake Forest when he made a highlight reel play in the 4th. Guy made a diving catch and was able to make a throw from his knees in center field to get the double play at 2nd.

On Friday night against the Bisons with the game in the balance, Lipscomb trailed 2-1 with the bases loaded and one out. Guy silenced the Lipscomb bats with a sliding catch and then throwing a strike to the plate to get the runner attempting to score from 3rd on the sacrifice fly. Not to be outdone, on Sunday, Guy made a jumping catch as he slammed into the center field wall.

Check out the video of these three plays from Guy this week:

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: NICK WILLARD

As mentioned above, freshman Nick Willard made his first career start for the Flames as he’s moved into the weekend rotation. Willard pitched 4 innings of no-hit baseball without allowing a run to pick up the win, his first decision of his collegiate career, as part of Saturday’s win against Lipscomb.

Entering this week, Willard had made six appearances and pitched 8.2 innings of relief this season. He’s allowed just 6 hits and 1 run during his outings with an ERA of 0.71. If he can continue to carry that level of play over to the weekend rotation, the Flames just got that much better.

ON TAP

Liberty concludes its home stand on Tuesday against the Virginia Tech Hokies with first pitch scheduled for 6 pm. The Hokies are currently ranked No. 12 in this week’s Baseball America top 25 poll and are 19-9 overall and 14-7 in the ACC with a current six game win streak. Virginia Tech currently leads the ACC’s Coastal Division.

The Flames then hit the road for a three game series at North Alabama in Florence, Alabama. The Lions have struggled this season winning just four games and dropping 25 on the season with a 3-9 mark in ASUN play. Liberty swept UNA earlier this week, winning the three games in Lynchburg March 12-14 by a combined score of 17-0.

ASUN STANDINGS

Liberty……………………..8-1 ASUN…21-8 overall
Stetson……………………5-1 ASUN…19-10 overall
Kennesaw State………7-2 ASUN…19-8 overall
FGCU………………………7-2 ASUN…19-10 overall
North Florida……………3-3 ASUN…9-14 overall
Bellarmine……………….5-7 ASUN…10-18 overall
Lipscomb………………..4-8 ASUN…11-16 overall
North Alabama……….3-9 ASUN…4-25 overall
Jacksonville……………0-9 ASUN…7-21 overall