Flames Host Duke, William & Mary
3/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Games
The Liberty Flames (7-3, 0-0 Big South) continue a nine-game homestand by welcoming the Duke Blue Devils (8-3, 1-2 ACC) and the Tribe of William & Mary (4-7, 0-0 CAA) for midweek contests, Tuesday and Wednesday, at Al Worthington Stadium. The Flames and Blue Devils will meet for the first time since 1998, Tuesday. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Tribe and Flames will square off at Worthington Stadium. The first pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
What to Watch
Coming off a four-game sweep of the Temple Owls this past weekend, the Liberty Flames look to remain unbeaten on their current homestand during the midweek. In the midst of their longest homestand of 2009, Liberty hit 11 home runs and banged out 16 doubles, scoring 56 runs (14 runs/game) in four games this past weekend.
With eight hits in his last 11 at bats, freshman first baseman Trey Wimmer has taken over the Flames batting lead with a .364 average. Center fielder Curran Redal, who comes into the week hitting .361, has hit in six consecutive games, while fellow outfielder Jeff Jefferson has collected 15 hits to lead the team.
Meanwhile, the Liberty pitching staff has posted a 4.81 ERA so far this season. Five Flame hurlers, who have pitched nine or more innings, have a ERA under 2.00 in the early going.
The Duke Blue Devils enter Tuesday's game after going 2-1 against Virginia Tech this past weekend. After dropping the opener, the Blue Devils rebounded to take the final two ACC contests in Durham, N.C.
Right fielder Alex Hassan and left fielder Jeremy Gould have each collected 21 hits through 11 games to lead Duke. Hassan has a .477 batting average, while Gould has posted a .438 batting average.
Wednesday, the Tribe will be trying to get on track after dropping six of their last seven games entering the week. Wiliam & Mary plays at George Washington, Tuesday.
Shortstop Lanny Stanfield leads the Tribe with a .333 batting average, while left fielder Jeff Jones is hitting .316. As team, William & Mary is hitting .276 through 11 games.
The Coaches
Liberty Head Coach Jim Toman is in his second year at the helm of the Flames. In this first season at Liberty, he guided the Flames to a 35-26-1 mark, the best record by a Liberty team under a first-year coach in program history.
A 20-year member of the college coaching ranks, he served 18 years as a member of Ray Tanner's staffs at South Carolina and N.C. State. Toman was named the 2002 Baseball America/American Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year and recruited 15 top 25 classes, including all 11 of his seasons at South Carolina. From 2003-2006, three of the four Gamecock recruiting classes were ranked first in the nation by Collegiate Baseball.
During his time in Columbia, S.C., Toman and the Gamecocks made nine NCAA Regional appearances, including eight-straight since 2000, and three-consecutive trips to the College World Series (2002-04). Add in his seven seasons at N.C. State, and Toman has helped lead 15 teams to NCAA Regional appearances.
Duke Head Coach Sean McNally is in his fourth season guiding his alma mater. Last season, his Blue Devils posted a 37-18-1 record, one of the most successful years in school history. The mark enabled McNally to become the first coach in Duke baseball history to reach the 30-win season plateau in just his third year of coaching.
Entering this season, his 2008-09 recruiting class was ranked 25th in the nation by Baseball America. The class is look upon to help the Blue Devils continue to increase their ACC win total, as Duke has improved its conference victories each year under McNally.
William & Mary Head Coach Frank Leoni is in his fourth season at the helm of the Tribe. Last season, Leoni led William & Mary to a 36-21 record. The Tribe's win total was one victory shy of the school record. The 2008 Tribe finished third in the nation with a .343 batting average and lead the CAA in fielding.
Leoni is in his 17th year overall as a coach. Before taking over the reigns of the Tribe, he spent 13 seasons at his alma mater, Rhode Island. During his time there, he was twice named A-10 Coach of the Year and garnered New England Coach of the Year honors in 2004.
Following the Flames
This season, the Flames Sports Network plans to broadcast several Liberty baseball regular season games. Games will air live on WWMC 90.9 FM "The Light" and on the World Wide Web at both LibertyFlames.com and thelightonline.com. The schedule of games will be posted on thelightonline.com, when the radio station announces its broadcast schedule.
In addition, selected games will be video streamed live on the internet via the Big South Edge, available on BigSouthSports.com. The stream can be accessed for a nominal fee through a link on LibertyFlames.com or by going directly to BigSouthSports.com. Both Tuesday's contest with Duke and Wednesday's contest with William & Mary will be available on the Edge.
Live stats are available for each Liberty contest by clicking on the various Live Stats links at LibertyFlames.com.
The Last Time Out
The Liberty Flames completed a four-game sweep of Temple at Worthington Stadium, downing the Owls, 15-11, Sunday afternoon. The Flames erased a 6-1 second-inning deficit, posting a four-run third inning and a five-run fifth inning, in rolling to the win.
First baseman Trey Wimmer paced Liberty with four hits, scoring two runs and driving in two more. Outfielders Jeff Jefferson and Doug Bream, shortstop Matt Williams and second baseman P.J. Jimenez each had two hits for Liberty in the victory.
Reliever Carter Browing earned his first win in a Liberty uniform, moving to 1-0 on the year. Right-hander Austin Poretz recorded his first collegiate save with three innings of work.
Flames at Worthington Stadium
For the past 31 years, the Flames have called Worthington Stadium home. Liberty has compiled an impressive 490-224-5 record at the facility for a winning percentage of .685 since the stadium's inception in 1979.
With a sweep of this past weekend's four-game series with Temple, Jim Toman's squad has started the home portion of its schedule at 4-0. The Flames are scheduled to play 28 games at home this season.
Last year, the Flames played 24 home games at the stadium, posting an 11-12-1 record at Worthington. The slate of home games included the first night contests in the history of the stadium. March 28 was the first night contest ever at the stadium, and nine contests were played under the lights.
All-Time Against Duke, William & Mary
Tuesday's game with Duke will be the fifth meeting between the two schools on the diamond since 1976, and the first meeting since 1998. The series is tied at 2-2.
The last time Duke and Liberty met, the Flames defeated the No. 13 Blue Devils, 12-2, on Feb. 27, 1998 in Durham, N.C.
Wednesday will be the 44th meeting between William & Mary and Liberty on the diamond since 1976. The Tribe holds a 23-20 advantage in the series.
Last season, the two squads split a pair of games. The Flames won the last meeting between the two squads, 13-3, on April 15 at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Va. Earlier in the season, the Tribe edged Liberty, 9-7, on April 1 at Worthington Stadium.
Flames By the Month
The Flames have started the third month of the year, March, with a 4-0 mark. This season, Liberty is scheduled to play 21 games during March, including the start of Big South Conference play this coming weekend (Mar. 13-15). Last season, the Flames posted a 7-12 overall mark and a 1-2 record in conference action during the month. Liberty is 329-266-2 (.553) all-time in program history.
Liberty finished its February schedule with a 3-3 mark. The Flames were scheduled to play nine games in the month, but had three canceled due to inclement weather. Liberty has an all-time mark of 64-32 in February.
Look Ahead
Liberty completes a nine-game homestand and starts Big South Conference play this weekend. The Flames will host the Charleston Southern Bucanneers in a three-game series, Friday-Sunday. Friday's series opening game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m., while Saturday's contest is slated for 2 p.m. Sunday's first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
