Liberty University
14-16, 6-5
Central Arkansas
13-17, 5-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Arkansas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| LIBERTY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | X | 11 | 14 | 3 |
Liberty Tops Central Arkansas 11-6
4/7/2023 11:18:12 PM | Baseball
The Liberty Flames cruised by the Central Arkansas Bears 11-6, Friday evening at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
The Flames posted five-run innings in the fourth and the sixth to pull away from the Bears in the victory.
Liberty starting pitcher Garrett Gainey worked into the seventh inning in the contest. He allowed three unearned runs before leaving with two outs in the seventh.
Flames left fielder Kane Kepley led all hitters in the contest with three hits. The freshman drove in a run and scored three times in the game.
Center fielder Jaylen Guy and right fielder Camden Troyer each had three RBI in the contest of the Flames.
With two straight wins over Central Arkansas, Liberty takes the three-game ASUN series. Liberty moves to 6-5 in the ASUN play and 14-16 overall. Central Arkansas falls to 5-6 in conference play and 13-17 overall.
Box Score Highlights
Records: Central Arkansas (13-17, 5-6 ASUN); Liberty (14-16, 6-5 ASUN)
Location: Lynchburg, Va. (Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium)
WP: Garrett Gainey (4-1) | LP: Payton Windhan (0-1)
Scoring Summary
1st INNING – UCA – Johnson singles, Seldomridge scores (unearned), 1-0
1st INNING – LIBERTY – Troyer flies out, Kepley scores, 1-1
4th INNING – LIBERTY – Kepley walks, Castillo scores, 2-1
4th INNING – LIBERTY – Horton walks, Foster scores, 3-1
4th INNING – LIBERTY – Troyer singles, Kepley and Lazzaro score, 5-1
4th INNING – LIBERTY – Guy grounds out, Horton scores, 6-1
6th INNING – LIBERTY – Guy singles, Horton and Kepley score, 8-1
6th INNING – LIBERTY – Betts triples, Guy and Troyer score, 10-1
6th INNING – LIBERTY – Hillier singles, Betts scores, 11-1
7th INNING – UCA – Seldomridge single, Bowman scores (unearned), 11-2
7th INNING – UCA – Mendolia fouled out, Sturgeon scores (unearned), 11-3
9th INNING – UCA – Johnson homers, Mendolia and Sturgeon score, 11-6
Notable Numbers
- Liberty collected 14 hits in the contest. Central Arkansas had 10.
- The Flames committed three errors in the contest.
- Liberty left 10 men on base. Central Arkansas left 10 men on base.
- Gainey picks up the win. The left-hander gave up three runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out a season-high 10 and walked 1.
- Guy, designated hitter Victor Castillo and shortstop Jake Lazzaro each had two hits apiece for the Flames.
- Central Arkansas starter Payton Windham takes the loss. He gave up five runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three.
- Right fielder Kolby Johnson had two hits, one his sixth home run of the season, and four RBI for the Bears.
Turning Point
Tied 1-1, Liberty struck for five runs in the home half of the fourth. With one out, Castillo, third baseman Cam Foster and Lazzaro all reached on infield singles to load the bases. The Flames took the lead as Kepley walked to force in a run to give Liberty a 2-1 edge.
After the Bears went to the bullpen, first baseman Brayden Horton walked to force in another run. Troyer followed with a single past the first base bag, plating Lazzaro and Kepley to give the Flames a 5-1 advantage. The next batter Guy made it 6-1 Liberty with a run-scoring ground out for a 6-1 lead.
Beyond the Box Score
- Gainey’s outing is his longest at Liberty. It is the second day in a row that a Liberty starting pitcher worked six innings or more, as Garrett Horn pitched six innings in the Flames’ win over the Bears yesterday.
- Kepley collects his second three-hit game of the season. Each of his three-hit contests has come this week, as he had three hits in Liberty’s 9-4 win over Lipscomb this past Sunday. In addition, it is the second time the freshman scored three times in a game in 2023. The outfielder plated three runs in the Flames’ win over Austin Peay on March 24.
- Lazzaro collects his second straight game and has nine multi-hit games on the season.
He is tied with Guy, Troyer and Betts for the team lead in multi-hit games.
- Guy has had two or more hits in four of the last six games and has moved his batting average over .300 to .302.
- Castillo recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season.
- Catcher Three Hillier extended his reached base safely streak to a team-high 22 consecutive games with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Next Up
Central Arkansas and Liberty will wrap up their three-game series tomorrow morning at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Featured in Main Photo: Kane Kepley
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gainey, Garrett (4-1)
L: WINDHAM, Payton (0-1)
Batting:
2B: ARGENTA, Noah 1
HR: JOHNSON, Kolby 1
RBI: SELDOMRIDGE, Kade 1 ; MENDOLIA, AJ 1 ; JOHNSON, Kolby 4
SF: MENDOLIA, AJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: STURGEON, Drew 2 ; SELDOMRIDGE, Kade 1 ; MENDOLIA, AJ 1 ; JOHNSON, Kolby 1 ; BOWMAN, Reid 1
SB: STURGEON, Drew 2 ; SELDOMRIDGE, Kade 1 ; KING, Mason 1
HBP: STURGEON, Drew 1 ; WILLIAMS, Avery 1
Batting:
2B: Horton, Brayden 1 ; Guy, Jaylen 1 ; Castillo, Victor 1
3B: Betts, Gray 1
RBI: Kepley, Kane 1 ; Horton, Brayden 1 ; Troyer, Camden 3 ; Guy, Jaylen 3 ; Betts, Gray 2 ; Hillier, Three 1
SF: Troyer, Camden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kepley, Kane 3 ; Horton, Brayden 2 ; Troyer, Camden 1 ; Guy, Jaylen 1 ; Betts, Gray 1 ; Castillo, Victor 1 ; Foster, Cam 1 ; Lazzaro, Jake 1
CS: Kepley, Kane 1 ; Foster, Cam 1
HBP: Troyer, Camden 1 ; Betts, Gray 2
