No. 22 Liberty Travels to No. 1 Virginia for Midweek Contest

NO. 22 LIBERTY AT NO. 1 VIRGINIA
May 7 - 6 p.m.
Davenport Stadium
Charlottesville, Va.

Radio Broadcast: 90.9 FM "The Light"

Live Stats: Wednesday's Game (Courtesy UVA Media Relations)

Quick Hits
• Liberty enters the week with a 35-10 overall record and a 19-1 mark in Big South play.
• Liberty has had a nine-day break for exams. The Flames swept a three-game series from UNC Asheville at Liberty Baseball Stadium, April 25-27, before the hiatus.
• Liberty entered the week with a RPI of 22 in the latest report from the NCAA.
• The Flames are ranked in each of the major polls this week. Liberty's highest ranking is No. 22 by Baseball America.
• The Flames sit atop the conference's North Division standings with the Big South's best record at 19-1. The mark is the best conference start in program history and its 19 wins tie the 2010 Flames for the most Big South wins in program history.
• Liberty has won 17 straight Big South Conference games, a program record.
• Liberty is 16-6 on the road this season, including neutral site games. Liberty has won 13 of their last 15 road contests. The Flames' 13-4 record in road games is tied for the fifth best mark nationally.
• The Flames finished the month of April with 14-3 (.824). The Flames have posted a 74-53 (.583) mark during head coach Jim Toman's tenure during the month.

Player Notes
• 2B Ryan Seiz hit his 11th home run of the season in the eighth inning to give Liberty a 4-2 lead in a win over UNC Asheville, 4/26. He leads the Big South with 11 home runs.
• Seiz also leads the Big South in runs scored, slugging percentage and total bases. He is fourth in batting average and second in on base percentage. The second baseman is tied for third in the conference with teammate Alex Close with 38 RBIs.
• 1B Alex Close hit his sixth home run of the season and singled home the winning run in Liberty's walkoff win over UNC Asheville, 4/27. He ranks sixth in home runs and seventh in the slugging percentage in the Big South.
• Close leads the Flames with a .400 batting average with runners in scoring position.
• C Danny Grauer hit his seventh home run of the season and drove in another run with a double in Liberty's win at Clemson, 4/22.
• Grauer is tied for fourth in home runs among Big South hitters. He is seventh in RBIs and is sixth in slugging percentage in the conference.
• SS Dalton Britt had a career-high 14-game hit streak from 4/4-4/26. The streak is the longest by a Liberty player this season.
• Britt has had at least one hit in 38 of Liberty's 45 games this season.
• OF Nick Lacik is third in the Big South Conference with 26 walks. The Liberty leadoff hitter has a .379 on base percentage.
• RHP Trey Lambert was named to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List. Lambert leads the Big South Conference in wins and enters the week with a 9-1 record. His win total ranks ninth nationally.
• Lambert ranks sixth in ERA (2.27) and seventh in innings pitched (79.1) in the conference.
• RHP Ashton Perritt recorded his career-high 11th save of the season in win over UNC
Asheville, 4/26. Perritt's save total is the second most in a season by a Liberty pitcher in program history.
• Perritt is on the midseason watch list for NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award.
• Perritt also has started all 45 games in center field for the Flames this season. He is one of three Flames (Britt and Seiz) who have started every game this season.
• LHP Shawn Clowers ran his record to 7-0 on the season with three wins over five games, 4/22-4/27. He recorded the victory at Clemson on 4/22 and picked-up back-to-back victories against UNC Asheville, 4/26 and 4/27. The LHP is tied for second in the Big South in wins.
• Clowers has made a career-high 15 appearances, allowing two runs over 35 1/3 innings in this season.
• RHP Parker Bean is tied for seventh in the Big South Conference in wins with a 6-1 record. He leads the Flames and is sixth in the conference with 64 strikeouts.
• Bean was named the Big South Pitcher of the Week and earned Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors for 3/31-4/6, after coming within two outs of a no-hitter in win over VMI, 4/6. The RHP struck out a career-high 16 batters over 81/3 scoreless innings.

Pitching Making Mark
• Liberty enters the week with the fifth-best winning percentage in the nation (35-10, .778). One of the key elements of head coach Jim Toman's team's success has been its mound corps, this season.
• The Flames enter the week with a Big South-leading 2.37 ERA. Liberty is also ranks 11th nationally in the category.
• Liberty pitching also ranks 10th nationally with eight shutouts. The Flames recorded six consecutive shutouts in Big South contests from March 28 - April 6. Liberty did not allow a run in a sweep of a three-game series at Presbyterian College, March 28-30, and during a three-game sweep of a series against VMI at Liberty Baseball Stadium, April 4-6.
• Liberty pitching has posted a 2.37 ERA and held opponents to .221 batting average in 2014.
• The Flames have held opponents to 3.0 runs per game this season, the 10th fewest in the nation.
• Over their last 30 games, the Flames have a 1.90 ERA and held opponents to a .208 batting average. Liberty is allowing 2.3 runs per game during the span.

Recognizing the Seniors
• On Saturday, Liberty baseball will recognize the five seniors on its roster who will play in their last regular season home games in a Liberty uniform at Liberty Baseball Stadium over the next six days. The Flames close out their home schedule on May 13 against Elon.
• Pitchers Brett Fulghum, Trey Lambert and Matt Marsh, along with catcher Danny Grauer and outfielder Nick Lacik will be honored for their contributions to Liberty baseball during their time with program.
• In addition, managers Matt Bonferraro and Dan Forbes will be recognized for their efforts.

Flames Clubhouse Report
• Join the Liberty Flames Sports Network's Nick Pierce each week for a look at Flames Baseball.
• The audio show is available at LibertyFlames.com each week throughout the season.
• Pierce, who brings you all the action of Liberty Flames baseball, takes a look back at the previous week, along with comments from Liberty head coach Jim Toman and key Flames.

Schedule