Liberty pushed the SEC regular season and tournament champion Georgia Bulldogs to the limit in Sunday night’s Regional Final before falling, 6-1. With the loss, the Flames’ season comes to an end with a record of 43-21, tying the program record for wins in a regular season.

“Our guys gave it everything they got, we just couldn’t come up with a big hit,” said Liberty head coach Bradley LeCroy. “Cooper (Harrington) was outstanding. We competed. We pitched. We had opportunities. But I’m not going to fault our guys’ effort. In a hostile environment, we went toe-to-toe with the third national seed in the country. We’re going to hang our heads high and be proud of what we did.”

Less than two hours after eliminating Boston College with an 8-3 win earlier in the day to advance to the program’s third ever Regional Final, the Flames gave the No. 3 national seed everything it wanted. Liberty got on the scoreboard in the top of the first when Jaxon Sorenson singled in Riley DeCandido making it 1-0.

Playing the team’s fourth game in three days, it was closer Cooper Harrington that head coach Bradley LeCroy gave the ball to as the starter. Making his third start of the season, Harrington was perfect through the first three innings as he retired the first 10 batters he faced. Through the first five innings, he allowed just one hit with six strikeouts and no walks.

In the sixth inning, Georgia’s explosive offense finally got to Harrington as Tre Phelps hit a two-run home run to give the home team its first lead of the game at 2-1. Phelps was ejected from the game due to his celebration as he jogged around the bases. Georgia head coach Wes Johnson came out to argue the decision to toss Phelps and was ejected himself.

Harrington finished the game with the longest outing of his career. He went 6.1 innings, tossing 95 pitches, while holding Georgia to two runs on three hits while striking out six.

“He usually throws strikes,” LeCroy said of Harrington. “He’s super competitive. I knew he wouldn’t be scared of this environment. He showed us exactly who he is. What he did was phenomenal. He gave us a chance to win, for sure.”

Something that plagued the Flames throughout the Athens Regional this weekend, particularly in the two games against Georgia, was struggling to get timely hits. In both the fifth and sixth innings, Liberty got two runners out, threatening but unable to provide any relief for the pitching staff.

Liberty stayed within striking distance though, trailing just 2-1 before Georgia added four runs in the bottom of the eighth to open the game up with a 6-1 edge.

DeCandido led the way for the Flames, going 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Nick Barone was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles.

“We’re going to keep pushing it forward,” LeCroy said. “This is the foundation. It’s a credit to the guys who bought into what we’re trying to do. Obviously, we are going to celebrate this team. We will get back on the bus tomorrow and head home, meet with them on Tuesday. Then, it’s full go recruiting, trying to build an even better team for next year. We can do special things at Liberty. We’re going to do special things.”