Liberty Closes Out Regular Season by Hosting Bellarmine
5/17/2023 6:12:22 PM | Baseball
BELLARMINE at LIBERTY
May 18-20
Earl Combs Stadium
Thursday - 6 p.m.
Friday – 4 p.m.
Saturday - 1 p.m.
Video Coverage:Â ESPN+
LFSN Radio Coverage:Â LFSN Radio Online Audio
Live Stats:Â StatBroadcast
Quick Hits
• The Liberty Flames will host the Bellarmine Knights in a three-game ASUN series at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium, Thursday through Saturday. The games will be the final three games of the 2023 regular season for both teams.
• The Flames enter the weekend needing two wins over Bellarmine or a combination of two wins or North Florida losses to qualify for the 2023 ASUN Baseball Championship held next Tuesday - Sunday, May 23-28 in DeLand, Fla.
• Liberty enters the weekend with a 24-27 overall record and a 14-13 mark at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium. The Flames have posted a 13-9 mark at home this season.
• Liberty and Bellarmine have not met since 2021 when the Flames went 7-1 against the Knights. Liberty won all five meetings
between the two teams at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
• Head Coach Scott Jackson is in his seventh season at Liberty. Jackson has led the Flames to a 219-143 record and three NCAA
Regional appearances, the most of any coach in program history.
Oh What a Night!
• Center fielder Kane Kepley had quite the evening in Liberty's 15-12 victory at Eastern Kentucky this past Saturday. The freshman outfielder went 6-for-7 and hit for the cycle in the contest. He scored three times and had an RBI.
• With six hits, Kepley tied the program record for hits in a game. The freshman’s hit total tied Jake Hines, who also had six hits in a 15-10 win at William & Mary on April 22, 1993.
• In addition, Kepley hit for the cycle. He hit the first pitch of the game over the right field wall for his first collegiate home run, then followed with a triple, double and three singles. He becomes the first Flame to collect a cycle since outfielder Nick Paxton hit for a cycle in a 6-4 victory over Army at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium on March 1, 2013. Kepley is one of three cycles by a Liberty player in the last 20 years.
• The outfielder also recorded 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. Kepley has nine multi-hit games this season.
• All nine hitters in the Liberty lineup had at least one hit in the contest, as the Flames collected a season-high 19 in the victory.
Tepper Named ASUN Pitcher of the Week
• Liberty right-hander Mikey Tepper has been selected as the ASUN Pitcher of the Week for May 15. The junior picks up his first ASUN Pitcher of the Week honor, after handcuffing a hot-hitting Eastern Kentucky team on the road this past Sunday.
• Tepper held the Colonels to one run on three hits over six innings in Liberty’s 6-1 win at Earle Combs Stadium, helping Liberty to take the three-game series, two games to one. The right-hander stuck out a team-high 13 to tie a season-high. The Fort Mills, S.C., native struck out 13 in a 9-4 win at Lipscomb earlier this season.
• He also worked around six walks and retired eight in a row from the middle of the second through the first out of the fifth inning.
• With the win, Tepper moves to 4-3 on the season with a 4.35 ERA over 59 2/3 innings in 13 starts. The right-hander has struck out 74 and walked 42 while holding opponents to a team-low .200 batting average. He enters the week third in the ASUN, striking out an average of 11.16 batters per nine innings.
Foster Heats Up in April
• As the temperature has gotten hotter, so has third baseman Cam Foster at the plate. The third baseman's bat heated up in April as he hit a team-leading .353 while adding a team-high five home runs and 16 RBI in 18 games.
• The sophomore raised his batting average from .198 to .253 during the month.
• Foster closed out April strong, hitting .393 with over half of his RBI in the month, nine, coming in the final eight games of the month.
• He has carried that into the month of May. Foster has hit .333 with six RBI and has scored seven runs over eight games. He also has a .500 on base percentage during the span.
• With his recent success, Foster leads Liberty with 34 RBI and in runs scored with 37. He also leads the Flames with 10 home runs.
Betts and the Program Record Book
• A two-time ASUN All-Conference catcher, senior Gray Betts has already etched his name in the Liberty record book and is on
the verge of entering the program's top 10 in doubles.
• On April 2, Betts moved into the ninth on Liberty's career runs scored list.
• He moved into 10th on the Flames' career hit list with a single in Liberty's 9-1 game two win at Kennesaw State on April 15.
To Move into the Top 10
• Two doubles from joining Top 10 - Currently: 45
To Become the Program Leader
• 11 runs scored to pass Pat Sipe (1983-86) with 180 runs scored
In Record Book
• One of 23 Flames in program history with 200 or more hits
• Tied for 4th on the all-time hits list with 252
• 4th on the all-time runs scored list with 169 career runs scored
• 2nd on Liberty's all-time walks list with 132 career walks
• Has over 100 RBI for his career (113)
Featured in Main Photo: Gray Betts
