Baseball Earns Thrid Victory Over ACC Opponent, Defeats Virginia

Sunny weather Wednesday afternoon saw the Flames win a third ACC matchup this season as they thrashed UVA 10-2 in an offensive blowout. 

Junior second baseman Will Wagner led the charge for the Flames, hitting a three-run home run in the first inning, allowing Wagner, Aaron Anderson and Gray Betts to each reach home base. His bomb gave the Flames a 3-0 lead over Virginia early in the game.

After Wagner’s home run, Garrett Wilkinson followed that with an RBI double to allow Trey McDyre to score, increasing Liberty’s lead to 4-0 – and Liberty wasn’t done. Logan Mathieu managed to score from third off a wild pitch, allowing Liberty to lead 5-0 before the first inning concluded. 

In the bottom of the third with two outs, Mathieu came to bat, and on a 2-2 count, he connected with the ball hanging at the top of the frame, nailing Liberty’s second home run of the day and spacing its lead 6-0.

The Cavaliers came into the fourth inning knowing they needed to find a spark. They got on the board with two sacrifice fly balls, giving Kyle Teel and Zack Gelof the opportunity to reach home plate and move the lead to a manageable 6-2.

Liberty’s Cam Locklear followed Virginia’s only scores by hitting an RBI single, with Jake Wilson reaching home in the bottom of the fourth to give Liberty a 7-2 lead. Liberty managed to score three more times and secure a win to keep their winning streak alive, with 12 straight victories. After this win, Liberty is now 3-0 against ACC opponents on the year, having earlier beaten UNC twice.

Sophomore relief pitcher David Erickson secured his fifth win on the year and extended his scoreless innings streak to nine, which led the team at the time. At that point, he had won every game that he pitched.

Wagner leads the team in consecutive games with at least one hit (12). Coach Scott Jackson credits his diligence to study film and put in the extra time in the batting cages.

“He didn’t get off to the start he wanted to, but that kid really cares,” Jackson said. “It matters a lot to him. He takes a lot of pride in what he does. His body language wasn’t great early (in the season). It was a frustration I haven’t really seen out of Will much, and he’s just been great about fixing some things and getting more on time. The quality of contact with his swings lately has really been great.”

Liberty faced Bellarmine for their second ASUN series matchup following this single-game win over Virginia. Liberty stole the first game (5-2) but the following day that 13-game winning streak ended in the first game of a double header (8-7). Despite the loss, Liberty came back in the back end of the doubleheader to take two out of three games in the series with a win (5-1).

Liberty will head to Durham, North Carolina, for a match against the Duke Blue Devils March 30. Flames fans can listen to the game on 90.9 The Light or LFSN Audio Live Online.

Kevin Gora is a Sports Reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @kevgora.