It was a quick turnaround for the Liberty baseball team after the Flames were knocked off by Jacksonville State in Sunday’s Conference USA Championship. Head coach Bradley LeCroy and his team had put their fates in the NCAA Tournament committee’s hands and had to wait until Monday’s selection show to see if their season would continue.
The news came on Monday afternoon as Liberty’s (41-19) name was read on the ESPN selection show. The Flames are in the Athens Regional where No. 3 Georgia (46-12) is the host. Liberty will play Boston College (36-21) on Friday while the Bulldogs open regional play against Long Island (30-20). The Flames and Eagles will be the first game of the regional on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. Liberty was one of the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament field, the committee announced.
The Flames will be heading back to Georgia just a few days after competing in the 2026 CUSA Tournament which was held at Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Georgia. Liberty is 5-2 in games played in Georgia this season, winning two of three games played in a weekend series at Kennesaw State in March and posting a 3-1 record this past week in the CUSA Tournament.
This is Liberty’s first time making the NCAA Regionals since 2022 when the Flames also received an at large bid that season, advancing to the Gainesville Regional. Liberty had made three straight regional appearances under former head coach Scott Jackson following the team’s 2019 ASUN Championship and at-large in 2021 and 2022. This is Liberty’s ninth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, having previously made the field in 1993, 1998, 2000, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021, and 2022. This season marks the first time for Liberty to play postseason baseball as members of Conference USA.
Friday’s game will be the first ever meeting between Liberty and Boston College. The Eagles enter the NCAA Tournament after finishing 18-14 in conference play, good for fourth place in the ACC. Boston College has lost four straight having been swept by Georgia Tech at home to conclude the regular season before losing to Miami, 8-2, in the ACC Tournament this past Thursday.
Liberty has also never played Long Island while the Flames are 2-8 all-time against Georgia. The last time Liberty and Georgia met was in 2013, a Flames win, 11-8, on March 10. That game was the final of a three-game series in Athens with the Bulldogs winning the first two contests. Liberty also won its first ever meeting with Georgia, a 3-0 decision on March 7, 1989. All 10 prior meetings have occurred in Athens.
The Athens Regional is paired up with the Starkville regional hosted by No. 14 Mississippi State, with the two regional winners meeting up in the Super Regionals to determine a spot in the College World Series.
Liberty is 6-16 all-time in NCAA Regionals, having dropped both of its games in the 2022 Gainesville Regional, falling to Oklahoma and Central Michigan. In 2021, the Flames defeated ACC Champion Duke twice in the Knoxville Regional while losing to No. 2 national seed Tennessee twice, including on Sunday in the Regional Final. The only prior regional the Flames have played in Georgia was the program’s first ever regional appearance in 1993, competing in Atlanta where Georgia Tech was the host and Liberty went 0-2.
