Liberty Men’s Baseball Falls to New Mexico State University During Weekend Series March 21-23
The Liberty University Men’s Baseball team fell to New Mexico State University in two of three games in a weekend series March 21-23. The Flames secured a victory in game one, 6-5, but could not overtake the Aggies in game two, 10-6, and in game three, 8-7.
Game one on Friday was a tight battle between the two teams. The Flames led early in the bottom of the second inning when senior outfielder Anderson Fulk smashed a double, allowing junior outfielder Nick Barone to slide home. New Mexico State responded the next inning when sophomore pitcher Steve Soloranzo hit a three-run homer.
Barone hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third which got sophomore shortstop Tanner Marsh to home plate, making it a one run game 3-2. In the following inning, New Mexico State scored off an RBI single, giving the Aggies a two-run lead again.
At the bottom of the fourth, redshirt sophomore catcher Tucker Moore hit a fielder’s choice, giving his fellow Flame senior outfielder Camden Troyer easy access to home plate, which closed the gap to one run once again.
The fifth inning was dry for both teams, but an impressive defensive effort by the Flames prevented the Aggies from reaching home plate.
Moore hit another fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman infielder Landon Scilley took his chance on the hit and made it to home unscathed, tying the score.
Both teams held each other at stalemate for the seventh and eighth innings. At the top of the ninth, New Mexico State scored on a wild pitch, breaking the tie and taking the lead in the dying moments. Despite the setback, Liberty held them to no more runs.
In the final inning of the game, Marsh was on base waiting to tie the score and keep Liberty alive. Junior first baseman Jaxon Sorenson stepped up to the plate and blasted the ball out of the field, scoring a walk-off two run homer to win the game 6-5 in a nail-biting finish.
Liberty stayed strong for the early parts of Saturday’s game, only allowing one run from the Aggies in the first two innings. The third inning saw no change in the 1-0 score, but New Mexico State broke free of Liberty’s grasp in the top of the fourth.
The Aggies snatched multiple runs, and along with a wild pitch on Liberty’s end, improved their score to a 4-0 lead. New Mexico State’s defense prevented any scoring in the bottom of the fourth.
The fifth inning was empty score wise, but the Aggies pulled away even further in the top of the sixth, pushing the score to 6-0.
With bases loaded at the bottom of the sixth, Fulk popped another ball into the outfield. Thanks to a blunder by the New Mexico State outfielders, he was able to get a two RBI single, giving the Flames a little momentum.
In the seventh inning, New Mexico State pulled out another run, but the Flames did not throw in the towel just yet. In the bottom, Marsh launched the ball out of the park to get Liberty a three-run home run. However, New Mexico State came out swinging for the rest of the game, getting the score to 10-5 in the eighth and holding Liberty to a single run in the final inning.
“From a pitching standpoint, we’ve got to be consistent with our pitches,” Head Coach Bradley LeCroy said. “We made some good pitches, but we just had too many inconsistent there late in the ball game.”
Both teams took the field the next day ready to win. A lull in the Liberty defense allowed New Mexico State to score off a walk and a wild pitch in the top of the first. The Flames got right back up on their feet with a two-run homer from Sorenson, tying the score 2-2.
It was not until the bottom of the third that another run was put on the board. Troyer and Sorenson crushed two single home runs to take the lead 4-2. New Mexico State only got one run off a wild pitch in the fourth inning and held Liberty to no runs in the bottom.
Both teams did not reach home in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, freshman infielder Cal Early hit a fair ball down the right field line, scoring a two RBI double while his teammates Moore and redshirt junior outfielder Michael Robertson slid home, getting the score to 6-3.
New Mexico State earned another two runs with a fair ball down the left field line, but teamwork by Early and Sorenson made the final out before any more runs could be scored. The bottom of the seventh saw Liberty extend its lead back to a two-run game when an RBI single from Robertson got Fulk home, bringing the score to 7-5.
Liberty switched pitchers, putting senior right-handed pitcher Garrett McLaughlin on the mound in the next inning. He and the Flames’ defense kept the Aggies from scoring. Following that, New Mexico State hit a triple play against Liberty, the first time that Liberty has ever been taken out by a triple play in program history, according to Liberty Athletics.
New Mexico State tied the score in the next inning when redshirt freshman, Tommy Meluskey hit a two run RBI single. When it looked like the game was going in the Aggies’ favor, Sorenson stopped a line drive with a clutch dive and catch at first base. He threw it to Scilley at third to secure the double play and keep the score 7-7 going into the final inning.
New Mexico State held Liberty to no runs in the last inning, forcing the game into extra innings. The Aggies scored one run in the top of the 10th and held Liberty to no runs again in the last inning to secure the win.
“Yeah, it’s a great learning lesson,” LeCroy said. “I mean, every game is a learning lesson. What we’ve got to learn on is offensively we’ve got to lead. We’ve got to expand that lead when we have opportunities.”
The Flames will host the University of Virginia at Worthington Field Tuesday, March 25 at 4 p.m. The game can be viewed on ESPN+.
Warden is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.