Liberty baseball continued its hot ways by defeating Virginia Tech, 11-4, on Tuesday night at English Field in Blacksburg. With the win, the Flames extend their win streak to 8 straight while improving to 23-9 on the season while the Hokies fall to 15-16. Tuesday’s game was the first of two between the Flames and Hokies this season as the two teams will meet at Liberty Baseball Stadium on May 6. Liberty finishes its five-game road trip with a perfect 5-0 record with a series sweep at Western Kentucky sandwiched between a pair of ACC wins over Virginia Tech and NC State.
The Flames scored six runs in the fourth inning to overcome an early 3-1 deficit. Liberty sent 10 men to the plate and used three doubles in the frame to take a 7-3 lead and never looked back. After allowing three runs in the first inning, Liberty pitching yielded one run the rest of the way in the victory.
Tanner Marsh had a game-high three hits with one double while driving in three and scoring four runs. Nick Barone had a bases clearing double in the fourth and collected four RBI in the game. Jordan Jaffe had two hits, including a double, with two RBI and scored a run while extending his hitting streak to 10 games. The Flames walked 12 times, a season-high, and Riley DeCandido was hit twice.
The two teams combined to use 15 pitchers in the game. Liberty pitchers combined to strike out 14 in the contest. Jackson Evans picked up his first win of the season. He allowed one run on one hit in an inning of work. The second of seven pitchers for Liberty, he walked two.
The Flames return home to face the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a crucial three-game CUSA series this weekend. The series starts on Friday from Lynchburg with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. At 9-3 in conference play, the Flames are currently tied for second place in the league with Missouri State and only trailing the Gamecocks. Jax State enters the weekend with a 28-6 overall record and unbeaten 12-0 mark in league play. Liberty is coming off two straight CUSA series sweeps as part of their current 8-game win streak. This weekend’s series features the two hottest teams in CUSA as the Gamecocks have won four straight and are coming off a 15-4 run-rule win of #15 Auburn on Tuesday night. The Gamecocks are currently #28 in the RPI while Liberty is #34. Friday’s first game of the series should feature two of the top starting pitchers in the conference with Liberty’s Ben Blair (5-1, 1.46 ERA) taking on Jax State’s Eli Pillsbury (5-0, 1.99 ERA).
