Baseball team takes two out of three in front of the home crowd
The smell of hot dogs wafted through the air, and the crack of a bat rang out Sunday afternoon as Worthington Field livened up for Liberty baseball’s first home series of the season March 4-5. The Flames took on the Bryant Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.
“It’s good to be here,” Head Coach Scott Jackson said. “I enjoyed our crowd, I enjoyed being back home and just getting back where we’re comfortable.”
Designated hitter and FAU transfer Victor Castillo, playing his first home series in a Liberty uniform, also took in the new atmosphere.
“I loved it. Being at home is a different feeling,” Castillo said. “We had the opportunity with Longwood earlier this week, and everybody had a little bit more chip on their shoulder, little bit (more) excitement.”
Junior outfielder Three Hillier had a hot bat to start the first game, smashing four hits in five at-bats. The rest of the team followed, and the Flames scored in bunches to pull ahead to a 9-0 lead at the end of the seventh inning. Bryant followed with three runs in the eighth inning, and Liberty capped off the game with another run, winning the first game 10-3.
The Bulldogs struck first to start the second game, but a flurry of hits — including homers from two sophomores, third baseman Cam Foster and first basemen Cole Hertzler — shot the Flames out in front with a score of 5-1. Liberty went on to win the second game by the same score as the first, 10-3.
The final game of the series finished Sunday afternoon. Both teams ended scoreless after four innings and matched each other to a 2-2 draw after six. However, a Bryant barrage created separation, and the Bulldogs didn’t look back. Aided by numerous Liberty mistakes, the Bulldogs won the final game, 8-2.
“I think overall as a team, we grew,” Castillo said. “It’s a long season, so (we) can’t take any game for granted. It’s definitely not the outcome we wanted to finish with, but definitely positive things that we can take from it.”
“We saw some good things, put up a lot of runs this weekend,” Hillier added. “I like what I saw. We just got to limit some of the few that we’re making that are costing us the game. We get that under control, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
“Our best baseball is ahead of us, and it’s a process for us,” Jackson predicted. “I know I keep saying that. With this team, you’ve got to be patient, and I’ve got to just continue to be positive and coach and let the kids understand that they own the performance and they own the decisions they make in the game.”
Even with their four-game win streak snapped, the Flames still won the series and finished 3-1 on the week, improving to a winning record at 6-5 overall. Liberty plays another home contest against in-state foe VCU March 7 at 4 p.m. before heading to top-10 ranked East Carolina for a weekend series.
“It was a good week, (winning) 3-1, we keep improving,” Hillier said. “It would be great if we could go 3-1 or 4-0 this next week too, keep building and getting better every week.”
Barnes is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter