Liberty University
23-27, 13-13
Eastern Kentucky
27-25, 14-12
Kepley Ties School Record for Hits as Liberty Outlasts EKU 15-12
5/13/2023 11:00:58 PM | Baseball
Outfielder Kane Kepley had six hits to tie the program record as the Liberty Flames topped the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 15-12, Saturday evening at Earle Combs Stadium.
All nine starters had at least one hit for the Flames in the contest led by Kepley. The freshman’s hit total ties Jake Hines, who also had six hits in a 15-10 win at William & Mary on April 22, 1993, for the most hits in a game by Flame in school history. In addition, Kepley hit for the cycle in the game, hitting the first pitch of the contest over the right field wall for the first home run of his collegiate career and scored three times.
Freshman designated hitter Todd Hudson added three hits for the Flames who pounded out a season-high 19 in the game. Hudson also doubled, walked and drove in three runs.
Second baseman Gray Betts joined Kepley by hitting his third home of the season, collecting two RBI and scoring three times in the game.
Liberty evens its record at 13-13 in the ASUN Conference and 22-27 overall, snapping the Colonels’ eight-game winning streak. Eastern Kentucky drops to a 14-12 in the ASUN and 27-25 overall.
Box Score Highlights
Records: Liberty (23-27, 13-13 ASUN ); Eastern Kentucky (27-25, 14-12 ASUN)
Location: Richmond, Ky. (Turkey Hughes Field at Earle Combs Stadium)
WP: Trey Carter (1-1) | LP: Luke Reed (2-3) | SV: Cole Hertzler (3)
Scoring Summary
1st INNING – LIBERTY - Kepley homers, 1-0
1st INNING – LIBERTY - Troyer singles, Betts scores, 2-0
1st INNING – LIBERTY - Hudson doubles, Troyer and Hillier score, 4-0
1st INNING – EKU – King homers, Thomason scores (unearned), 4-2
2nd INNING – LIBERTY – Horton singles, Simmons scores, 5-2
2nd INNING – LIBERTY – Troyer hit by a pitch, Betts scores, 6-2
2nd INNING – LIBERTY – Hudson walks, Foster scores, 7-2
2nd INNING – LIBERTY – Keeter doubles, Hudson, Troyer and Hillier score, 10-2
2nd INNING – EKU – Thomason walks, Jones scores, 10-3
2nd INNING – EKU – Larreal grounds into a double play, Goehrig scores, 10-4
2nd INNING – EKU – King doubles, Peralta scores, 10-5
3rd INNING – EKU – Goehrig doubles, Jones and Criss score, 10-7
5th INNING – LIBERTY – Keeter scores on a throwing error (unearned), 11-7
5th INNING – LIBERTY – Betts reaches on a fielder’s choice, Simmons scores, 12-7
5th INNING – LIBERTY – Kepley scores on a throwing error (unearned), 13-7
5th INNING – EKU – Criss homers, 13-8
6th INNING – EKU – Ludwig reaches on fielder’s choice, Thomason scores, 13-9
7th INNING – LIBERTY – Betts homers, 14-9
8th INNING – LIBERTY – Foster singles, Kepley scores, 15-9
8th INNING – EKU – Sullivan singles, Thomason scores, 15-10
8th INNING – EKU – Criss flies out, Larreal scores, 15-11
8th INNING – EKU – Ludwig scores on a passed ball (unearned), 15-12
Notable Numbers
- Liberty outhit Eastern Kentucky, 19-9. Each team committed two errors.
- Liberty left 13 men on base. EKU left nine men on base.
- For the second night in a row, walks were an issue for both teams. The Flames walked 13 batters in the game. The Colonels walked 11.
- Shortstop Cam Foster, left fielder Nathan Keeter and John Simmons also had two hits each in in the game. Keeter drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the second inning.
- Liberty reliever Trey Carter came on in the second inning and recorded the win. The right-hander gave up four runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.
- Cole Hertzler followed Carter entering with two outs in the sixth inning. He gave up three runs on two hits over the final 3 1/3 innings. He struck out a career-high eight and walked three.
- Hertzler struck out the side in the seventh. It was the only time in the contest that either team was retired in order.
- Eastern Kentucky starting pitcher Luke Reed takes the loss. He was roughed up for seven runs on six hits over 1 2/3 innings-plus. He struck out two and walked two.
- Catcher Will King and left fielder Roderick Criss each had two hits and hit a home run in the game for the Colonels.
Beyond the Box Score
- With the win, Liberty evens the three-game series with Eastern Kentucky 1-1. So, far in the series, the two teams have combined to score 42 runs (Liberty 22, EKU 20).
- For the second consecutive game, Liberty plates six runs in an inning. The Flames scored six in the second inning tonight and six in the third inning on Friday.
- Kepley becomes the first Flames player to hit for a cycle, collecting a home run, triple, double and single in that order in the contest. Outfielder Nick Paxton was the last Liberty player to hit for a cycle in a 6-4 victory over Army at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium on March 1, 2013.
- Kepley also records the first game by a Flame with five or more hits since Aaron Anderson had five hits in a win over Bellarmine on May 22, 2021. The outfielder has nine multi-hit games this season.
- Besides hitting a solo home run, Betts walked twice in the contest and scored three times. He ties Aaron Grijalva for fifth on the program’s all-time runs scored list with 169 runs scored.
- Foster singled in the second inning and has reached base safely in 16 consecutive games. With two hits in the contest, he collected his 11th multi-hit game of the season.
- Simmons recorded his third multi-hit game of the season, while Hudson and Keeter each post his second of the year.
- Catcher Three Hillier had an RBI single in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
- First baseman Brayden Horton had an RBI double in the second to move his reached base safely streak to 17 consecutive games. He has a six-game hitting streak.
- Hertzler eclipsed his previous high of four strikeouts which he had on three different occasions.
Next Up
Liberty and Eastern Kentucky will complete their three-game ASUN series tomorrow at Earle Combs Stadium. Game time is 1 p.m. The contest will be the final road contest of the 2023 regular season for the Flames.
Featured in Main Photo: Kane Kepley
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Carter, Trey (1-1)
L: REED, Luke (2-3)
S: Hertzler, Cole (3)
Batting:
2B: Kepley, Kane 1 ; Hudson, Todd 1 ; Keeter, Nathan 1
3B: Kepley, Kane 1
HR: Kepley, Kane 1 ; Betts, Gray 1
RBI: Kepley, Kane 1 ; Horton, Brayden 1 ; Betts, Gray 2 ; Foster, Cam 1 ; Troyer, Camden 2 ; Hudson, Todd 3 ; Keeter, Nathan 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Kepley, Kane 3 ; Betts, Gray 3 ; Foster, Cam 1 ; Hillier, Three 2 ; Troyer, Camden 2 ; Hudson, Todd 1 ; Keeter, Nathan 1 ; Simmons, John 2
SB: Betts, Gray 1
HBP: Troyer, Camden 1
Batting:
2B: THOMASON, Logan 1 ; KING, Will 1 ; GOEHRIG, Michael 1
HR: KING, Will 1 ; CRISS, Roderick 1
RBI: THOMASON, Logan 1 ; KING, Will 2 ; LUDWICK, Charles 1 ; SULLIVAN, DJ 1 ; CRISS, Roderick 2 ; GOEHRIG, Michael 2
SF: CRISS, Roderick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: THOMASON, Logan 3 ; LARREAL, Miguel 1 ; KING, Will 1 ; LUDWICK, Charles 1 ; CRISS, Roderick 2 ; JONES, Jalen 2 ; GOEHRIG, Michael 1 ; PERALTA, Santiago 1
SB: THOMASON, Logan 1 ; LARREAL, Miguel 1
HBP: LUDWICK, Charles 1
