Liberty to Square Off with Charleston Southern, this Weekend at Liberty Baseball Stadium
4/12/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN AT LIBERTY
April 13-15
Liberty Baseball Stadium
Lynchburg, Va.
Friday – 6 p.m.
Saturday - 4 p.m.
Sunday - 2 p.m.
COMPLETE BASEBALL NOTES
LFSN Television Coverage: Sunday
LFSN Radio Coverage: 93.3 FM ESPN
Live Stats: Friday Saturday Sunday
Quick Facts
• Liberty and Charleston Southern will meet for the 80th time when their series opens Friday evening. Last season, the Flames took the three-game series between the two teams at CSU Ballpark, 2-1, March 24-26. The Buccaneers won the final game of the series to prevent a sweep.
• The Flames lead the all-time series, 56-24, and are 31-9 in Lynchburg against the Buccaneers.
• Liberty is 12-4 at Liberty Baseball Stadium in 2018. The Flames defeated Wake Forest, 8-4, in its last home game on April 4.
• RHP Garret Price was named the Big South Starting Pitcher of the Week and RHP Jackson Bertsch was selected the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week for games played April 2-9.
• Liberty enters the weekend as the national lead in base on balls with 208. OF Tre Todd leads the nation with 41.
• The Flames are in their second season under Head Coach Scott Jackson. He has led Liberty to a 51-35 record during his two seasons.
There is No Place Like Home
The Flames have posted an 12-4 record at Liberty Baseball Stadium in 2018, keeping with the trend of early season success for the home team at the six-year facility.
Liberty is hitting .261 at home, while its opponents are batting .233. The Flames outscored their opponents, 120-71, at Liberty Baseball Stadium, this season.
Tre Todd leads the Flames with a .340 batting average at home. He has also driven in a team-high 20 RBI.
In 2015 and 2016, the Flames posted an 11-4 record at home each year to start the season, while in 2014, Liberty went 12-3 through the first 15 home games of the year.
Last season, the Flames went 15-11 at Liberty Baseball Stadium. The Flames started the year, 7-3, at the home.
Liberty has averaged 17 wins per season during the stadium's first five years.
Todd Tops Nation
Tre Todd starts the week as the national leader in bases on balls with 41. Todd drawn 1.32 base on balls per game. The Deptford, N.J. native also is 12th nationally with a .510 on base percentage.
The Big South leader in on base percentage, Todd entered the week among the Big South Conference leaders in slugging percentage (eighth), RBI (tied second), home runs (seventh) and runs scored (tied seventh).
Meanwhile, teammate D.J. Artis, who led the nation in walks in 2017, is fourth in the nation and second in the Big South with 33 bases on balls. The outfielder leads the Big South with 36 runs scored and is 15th nationally in the category. He is also second in the conference and 14th nationally in stolen bases.
Artis is also among the conference leaders in on base percentage (fourth), doubles (tied fifth) and triples (second).
Taking Their Base
Liberty starts the week as the national leader in walks with 208. The Flames have walked two more times than former Big South member Coastal Carolina, which has 206 base on balls. Florida State and Murray State are next with 204 base on balls.
The Flames have walked 6.7 times per game so far this season. This past Sunday, Liberty drew a season-high 15 walks in an 8-3 win over Campbell in game two of a doubleheader.
Outfielder Tre Todd leads the nation with 41 bases on balls, while outfielder D.J. Artis, the program leader in career base on balls, is fourth nationally with 33. First baseman Dylan Allen has walked with 28 times.
Last season, Liberty finished second in the country and led the Big South with 341 walks. The Flames averaged 6.2 walks per game in 2017.
Around the Diamond
- C Jonathan Embry enters the weekend tied for fifth in the Big South with nine doubles.
- 1B Dylan Allen has reached base 22 straight games. He is also second on the team with nine multiple hit games. He enters the weekend sixth in the Big South with 29 runs scored.
- 2B Trey McDyre has hit .382 over his last 15 games, raising his batting 19 points over the span. Last Friday at Campbell, he had three hits, scored twice and stole a career high three bases.
- SS Cam Locklear had a 10-game hitting streak, the longest by any Flame, this season.
- CF D.J. Artis has reached base safely in every game this season. He also leads the Flames with 10 multi-hit games. The junior hit his second home of the season in Liberty's 6-5 win over Richmond on Tuesday.
- DH Logan Mathieu has hit .371 since taking over the designated hitter duties in a 4-3 win at Virginia Tech on March 27. In addition, he has driven in a team-high 12 runs during the span of nine games.
- After a team-leading 14 appearances out of the Liberty bullpen, RHP Garret Price made his first start of the season on the mound for the Flames on Friday night. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.
- Mason Hand pitched eight scoreless innings of relief in Liberty's 6-5 win over Richmond on Tuesday night. The freshman retired 16 in a row at one point in the contest.
