No. 21 Liberty to Host North Carolina A&T in Home Opener, Wednesday

NORTH CAROLINA A&T AT No. 21 LIBERTY
Feb. 23
Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium

Wednesday – 4 p.m.

LFSN Radio Coverage: 93.3FM ESPN Radio/Online Audio

Quick Hits

• The No. 21 Liberty Flames will open their 2022 home schedule on Wednesday. The Flames will host the North Carolina A&T Aggies at 4 p.m. at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.

• The Flames enter the contest off a series victory at nationally ranked Florida, this past weekend. After dropping the season opener, Liberty won Saturday and Sunday to take the series, two games to one.

• For the first time under Head Coach Scott Jackson, Liberty is ranked in the national polls. The Flames were ranked No. 21 in the D1Baseball.com poll on Monday.

• The Flames posted a 24-2 (.923) record at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium in 2021. The mark is the best home mark for the Flames in program history.

• Liberty is 7-2 in home openers at Liberty Baseball Stadium, winning the last six.

• Liberty Head Coach Scott Jackson is in his fifth season. He has led the Flames to a 160-94 record and a NCAA Regional appearance in 2019 during his tenure.

Home Openers at Liberty Baseball Stadium

• Liberty will open its 10th season at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium on Wednesday. The Flames are 7-2 in home openers at the stadium.

• The Flames have won six straight home openers, including a 16-2 win over North Carolina A&T, last season.

• Liberty has won its home opener in each of Head Coach Scott Jackson's first five seasons.

• In its nine seasons at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium, Liberty has posted a 182-64 (.740) record at the facility. The Flames have averaged over 20 home wins per season since the facility opened in 2013.

Flames Post Best Home Record in Program History in 2021

• The 2021 Flames won their last nine home games, including a 2-0 sweep of Bellarmine in an ASUN Quarterfinal series to finish the year with a 24-2 (.923) record at nine-year old Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium. The mark is the best home mark for the Flames in program history, topping the 16-2-1 (.868) set in 1979 at Worthington Stadium.

• The Flames' 2021 record surpassed the facility-best 25-5 (.833) record posted at the stadium in 2019.

• Liberty went 12-0 in ASUN conference play during the regular season at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium in 2021, sweeping all four of its conference series.

• The Flames won their first 14 home games of the season and won 16 straight home games, dating back to 2020, before losing for the first time against at home in 2021. The 16-game streak was the fourth longest in the nation at the time.

• The Flames are 59-9 (.908) at home since 2020.

Liberty Moves into the Top 25 Rankings in Major Baseball Polls

• After an opening-season series victory at previously ranked No. 9 Florida this past weekend, the Liberty Flames baseball team is ranked in three major baseball polls, today.

• The Flames are ranked for the first time since 2014. Liberty appeared in all four national baseball polls during the 2014 season. Liberty was listed by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, National Collegiate Baseball Writers (NCBWA) and USA Today Coaches polls during the year.

• Liberty reached as high as No. 21 in the polls in 2014, as Baseball America had the Flames listed there in their May 12 poll.

Betts Named ASUN Player of Week for Feb. 21

• Liberty catcher Gray Betts was selected the ASUN Player of the Week for the first weekend of the 2022 season.

• Betts garners his first ASUN Player of the Week honor of his career, after leading Liberty with a .364 batting average during its season-opening series victory at No. 9 Florida, two games to one, this past weekend. He also led the Flames with three runs scored.

• After driving in a run in Friday night’s season opener, Betts reached base twice with a hit and being hit by a pitch, scoring twice in Liberty’s 6-4 victory over Florida on Saturday. On Sunday, the catcher had his first multi-hit game of the season with two hits in the Flames’ 5-3 win. With the scored tied at 3-3 in the sixth, he lined a sacrifice fly to right to give Liberty a 4-3 lead. He also scored a run in the contest.

Schedule