Liberty University
35-12, 0
Kennesaw State
27-19, 0
Liberty Drops Series Finale at Kennesaw State
5/16/2021 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
In its final game of the 2021 regular season, Liberty fell to the Kennesaw State Owls 7-4, snapping the Flames' eight-game winning streak, Sunday afternoon in an ASUN Conference game at Stillwell Baseball Stadium.
Before the loss, the Flames had won 15 consecutive ASUN conference games and had won its first five meetings with the Owls, this season.
Liberty second baseman Will Wagner had two hits and belted his seventh home run of the year in the contest. Flames third baseman Trey McDyre also had two hits, a double, an RBI and scored a run.
Shortstop Cam Locklear also hit a home run for the Flames, leading off the ninth inning with his fifth home run of the year.
Liberty finishes its regular season with a 35-12 overall mark and a 19-2 record in the ASUN Conference. Kennesaw State improves to 27-19 overall and 12-8 in the ASUN.
Box Score Highlights
Records: Liberty (35-12; 19-2 ASUN); Kennesaw State (27-19; 12-8 ASUN)
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. (Stillwell Baseball Stadium)
WP: Ryan Kennedy (7-1) | LP: Trey Gibson (7-4)
Scoring Summary
LIBERTY – 2nd INNING – McDyre scores on passed ball, 1-0
KSU – 2nd INNING – Simon sacrifice bunt, Spratling scores, 1-1
KSU – 4th INNING – Coro singles, Simon and Spratling score, 3-1
KSU – 5th INNING – Hodges homers, Tolve scores, 4-1
LIBERTY – 6th INNING – Wagner homers, 5-2
KSU – 6th INNING – Tolve singles, Simon scores, 6-2
KSU 6th INNING – Carballo flied out, Coro scores, 7-2
LIBERTY – 8th INNING – McDyre flies out, Rohrer scores, 7-3
LIBERTY – 9th INNING – Locklear homers, 7-4
Notable Numbers
- Kennesaw State outhit Liberty, 12-5. Neither team committed an error.
- The Flames left six men on base, while the Owls left 10 men on.
- Flames starter Trey Gibson allowed three runs on seven hits over four innings to pick up the loss. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
- Four of Liberty's five hits in the contests came from the No. 3 & 4 hitters in its lineup, Wagner and McDyre.
- Owls starter Ryan Kennedy gave up one run on three hits over the first five innings to record the win. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
- Four Kennesaw State batters had two hits each in the contest. Left fielder Garrett Hodges, one of the Owls with two hits, also hit his eighth home run in the game.
Beyond the Box Score
- Liberty won the first two games of the series and finished the regular season 5-1 against Kennesaw State.
- Shortstop Cam Locklear passed Trey Wimmer (2009-13) for second on the program's career games played list by playing in his 236 game of his career, this afternoon. Locklear is three games shy of tying former Liberty shortstop Dalton Britt (2013-16) for the most games played in program history.
- For the second consecutive game, Wagner had two hits in a game. The second baseman has collected 17 multi-hit games this season. He is second in the ASUN Conference with 43 RBI on the year.
- With two hits in the contest, McDyre records his eighth multi-hit game of the season.
- Flames catcher Gray Betts walked in the contest and has now reached base safely in a team-leading 36 consecutive games.
Next Up
The Flames, the No. 1 seed of the ASUN North Division, will host the Bellarmine Knights in a best-of-three ASUN Quarterfinal series at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium, as the ASUN Tournament gets underway. The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: KENNEDY, Ryan (7-1)
L: Gibson, Trey (7-4)
Batting:
2B: McDyre, Trey 1
HR: Wagner, Will 1 ; Locklear, Cam 1
RBI: Wagner, Will 1 ; McDyre, Trey 1 ; Locklear, Cam 1
SF: McDyre, Trey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wagner, Will 1 ; McDyre, Trey 1 ; Locklear, Cam 1 ; Rohrer, Brandon 1
Batting:
3B: TOLVE, Tyler 1
HR: HODGES, Garrett 1
RBI: TOLVE, Tyler 1 ; CARBALLO, Alex 1 ; HODGES, Garrett 2 ; SIMON, Tyler 1 ; CORO, Jake 2
SH: SIMON, Tyler 1
SF: CARBALLO, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TOLVE, Tyler 1 ; HODGES, Garrett 1 ; SPRATLING, Malik 2 ; SIMON, Tyler 2 ; CORO, Jake 1
HBP: SPRATLING, Malik 1 ; HASSAN, Nick 2
