Flames Host Buccaneers in BSC Opener
3/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Games
The Liberty Flames (9-3, 0-0 Big South) open Big South Conference play this weekend, hosting the Charleston Southern Buccaneers (7-7, 2-1 Big South) for a three-game series. The series completes the Flames longest homestand of the season, nine games. The three-game set opens Friday at 2 p.m., followed Saturday by the middle game of the series at 2 p.m. The final contest of the three games between the two squads is set for 1 p.m., Sunday.
What to Watch
In the midst of a nine-game homestand, the Liberty Flames look to remain unbeaten at home this season. The Flames bats have come alive during the first six games of the stretch, scoring 13.3 runs per game. Liberty has averaged 14.5 hits, 3.83 doubles and 2.3 home runs so far during the homestand.
Center fielder Curran Redal has paced the Flames hitters, while enjoying the week at Worthington Stadium. The junior has hit .550 with 11 RBIs over the six games. He has raised his season batting average to a team-leading .400. First baseman Trey Wimmer has also enjoyed some home cooking, hitting .526 during the homestand. Teammates Doug Bream and Jeff Jefferson are the last of the Liberty batters to have an over .400 average during the homestand. Bream is hitting .478, while Jefferson has a .409 average in the six games.
Meanwhile, starting pitchers Mark Swanson and Steven Evans have given the Flames strong outings in the early going. Swanson enters the weekend, sporting a 2-0 mark with a 1.32 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. Evans is 1-0 with a save and a 1.56 ERA in 17 1/3 innings.
Charleston Southern enters the weekend, looking to keep its winning conference record in tact. Last weekend, the Bucanneers took two-of-three from UNC Asheville in a confernce series.
Charleston Southern has six players, hitting over .300. Outfielder Patrick Dolan (.388) and second baseman Scotty Radabaugh (.370) paced the Bucs at the plate.
Reliever Tyler Thornburg has posted a 3-0 mark and has not allowed a run in 8 1/3 innings so far this season for Charelston Southern's pitching staff.
A Look at Charleston Southern
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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.
Charleston Southern Head Coach Stuart Lake is in his first season with the Bucanners. A 1994 graduate of Charleston Southern, Lake returned to take over the reigns of his alma mater after having spent time at South Carolina, Ole Miss, College of Charleston and his most recent stop, The Citadel. The 14-year college coaching veteran is heading up a program for the first time in his career with the Bucs. Lake got his start in college coaching at South Carolina, serving on the same staff with the Flames' Jim Toman.
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. All three of this weekend's contests with Charleston Southern 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 jumped out to a 14-2 advantage, and then held off a charge by the Tribe of William & Mary for an 18-13 victory, Wednesday. The victory extended the Flames winning streak to six straight.
First baseman Trey Wimmer hit his second home run of the season, and catcher Errol Hollinger and outfielder Jeff Jefferson each drove in three runs in the Liberty victory. Seven Flames collected two hits apiece in the contest.
After a six-run fifth and a five-run sixth frame by the Tribe, reliever Cody Brown restored order, recording his first victory of the year to run his mark to 1-0 on the year. The senior right-hander allowed one run on two hits over the last 3 2/3 innings.
Flames in Big South Openers
This weekend's series is only the fifth time during Liberty's 18 years in the Big South, the Flames have started conference play at home. Liberty is 23-25 in their Big South opening series of the season.
Of the 48 games, Liberty has opened conference play on the road 13 times with a
record of 15-21. The Flames have opened at home four times, going 8-4.
Last season, Liberty opened the Big South portion of its schedule at Worthington Stadium, with the first night game in stadium history, a 5-3, 11 inning setback to Coastal Carolina on March 28. The Flames bounced back the following afternoon for a 9-6 win, before dropping the finale game of the set on March 30, 2-1.
Bats Enjoy Homecooking
Entering a nine-game homestand last Friday, the Flames were hitting .235 and averaging four runs per game. Since then, the Liberty bats have heated up, as Jim Toman's squad has run off six consecutive victories on its longest homestand of the season.
During their first six games of the 2009 season at Worthington Stadium, the Flames have hit .387, averaging 13.3 runs per game. Liberty has posted double-digit hit totals in five of the six contests. With the red hot hitting, the Flames have raised their team batting average 80 points during the span to .315.
In addition, Liberty has a .676 slugging percentage over the six-game stretch, banging out 37 extra base hits, 23 doubles and 14 home runs, so far on its longest homestand of the year.
In two of the contests, the Flames have scored a season-high 18 runs, defeating Temple in the first game of a doubleheader, last Saturday, 18-9, and William & Mary, Wednesday, 18-13. Also, Liberty hit two or more home runs in each of the first five games at Worthington Stadium this season. The streak ended Wednesday, when Liberty hit only one round tripper in its win over the Tribe.
A Look Ahead
Liberty travels to Harrisonburg, Va., Tuesday. The Flames will sqaure off with the James Madison Dukes for the second time this season at Long Field/Mauck Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, Liberty returns home for a contest with the Fordham Rams. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Worthington Stadium.
On the weekend, the Flames head to High Point, N.C., for a three-game Big South series with the High Point Panthers, March 20-22, at Coy Willard Stadium. The series gets underway on the March 20 at 6 p.m., with the first of two night contests.
