The Liberty Flames fell to 11-13 overall following the team’s loss to Duke on Tuesday night in Lynchburg. The Flames are 3-3 in conference play entering this weekend’s series at Lipscomb.
Looking for the season series sweep over the Blue Devils after defeating them in Durham earlier this season, Liberty jumped on top with a two-out, two-RBI single by Brayden Horton in the bottom of the first. Duke would strike right back to take their first lead of the contest at Liberty Baseball Stadium with a three-run top of the second.
After the Flames tied the game at three in the bottom of the second, the teams would remain scoreless entering the 7th inning. Liberty reliever Graham Edwards, the third Flames pitcher in the contest, pitched three innings without allowing a hit. That came to an end in the 7th when Duke got back to back hits off the reliever, a double and a home run to take the lead. The Blue Devils would go on to win the game, 7-3.
Liberty will be looking to win a second straight ASUN series this weekend when the Flames travel to Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Lipscomb Bisons. The Bisons are currently 9-15 on the season and 4-2 in ASUN play.
Lipscomb is coming off a loss to cross town foe #4 Vanderbilt, 11-1, on Tuesday. The Bisons opened conference play by winning two of three against Jacksonville and Queens over the prior two weekends.
Alex Vergara leads the team in batting with a .329 batting average to go along with 6 home runs and 14 RBIs. Mason Lundgrin is also one of the team’s top bats, he sports a .299 batting average. Austin Kelly is tied for the team lead with Vergara with 6 hom eruns while Trace Willhoite leads the team with 21 RBIs.
Braydon Tucker has started six games for Lipscomb so far this season. He has a 1-0 record with a 4.73 ERA as he has struck out 31 and walked 11 in 32.1 innings pitched.
Noah Thompson is coming off an incredible performance last Sunday in the win over Queens. He pitched a complete game, 1-hit shutout while striking out 10, walking 1, and hitting 1 in 9 innings. On the season, Thompson has started 4 games and has a 4-1 record with a 0.91 ERA. In 29.2 innings pitched, he has struck out 31 and walked just 6.
Liberty is 6-1 all-time against Lipscomb with all of the previous meetings coming since the Flames joined the ASUN prior to the 2019 season. The three games from Dugan Field in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend have first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday.
