Liberty University
26-28, 16-14
Bellarmine
13-42, 8-22
Liberty Falls to Bellarmine to End Regular Season
5/20/2023 4:18:15 PM | Baseball
The Bellarmine Knights defeated the Liberty Flames 13-6 to end the 2023 regular season, Saturday afternoon at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Liberty senior second baseman Gray Betts had three hits, including singling in his last at bat, and drove in three runs in his last home game.
Flames first baseman Brayden Horton continued his hot hitting with three hits. He had an RBI and scored two runs.
The Knights took advantage of 12 walks and a strong outing by senior pitcher Nolan Pender in the victory.
Liberty concludes its regular season with a 16-14 ASUN record and a 26-28 overall mark. Bellarmine ends its regular season with an 8-22 ASUN mark and a 13-42 overall record.
Box Score Highlights
Records: Bellarmine (13-42, 8-22 ASUN); Liberty (26-28, 16-14 ASUN)
Location: Lynchburg, Va. (Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium)
WP: Nolan Pender (5-7) | LP: David Erickson (2-2)
Scoring Summary
3rd INNING – BELL – Bratetic homered, Dilz scored, 2-0
3rd INNING – LIBERTY – Betts triples, Horton, Kepley and Hudson score, 3-2
4th INNING – BELL – Diaz singles, Blaszczyk and Crane score, 4-3
4th INNING – BELL – Pfaadt grounds into a double play, Bertsch scores, 5-3
4th INNING – BELL – Byerly singles, Dilz scores, 6-3
5th INNING – LIBERTY – Horton doubles, Kepley scores, 6-4
7th INNING – BELL – Blaszczyk homers, Crane scores, 8-4
8th INNING – BELL – Bertsch walks, Sorg scores, 9-4
8th INNING – BELL – Back scores on a wild pitch, 10-4
8th INNING – BELL – Bratetic walks, Crane scores, 11-4
8th INNING – BELL – Pfaadt singles, Dilz and Bertsch score, 13-4
8th INNING – LIBERTY – Foster singles, Horton scores, 13-5
9th INNING – LIBERTY – Hertzler doubles, Kepley scores, 13-6
Notable Numbers
- Liberty outhit Bellarmine, 12-10, in the contest. Neither team committed an error.
- The Flames left eight men on base. The Knights left nine.
- Liberty’s six pitchers in the game combined to walk 12.
- The third Flames pitcher of the contest, David Erickson, takes the loss. He gave up four runs on two hits during the fourth inning. He walked three.
- Bellarmine’s Pender allowed four runs on six hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked one.
- Designated hitter Reed Blaszczyk had two hits and hit his 11th home run of the season for the Knights.
- Bellarmine catcher Gabe Bratetic hit his fourth home run of the season in the game.
Beyond the Box Score
- Liberty finishes the regular season 15-10 at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium. The Flames have won all five of their ASUN home series this season.
- Betts records back-to-back three-hit games. The second baseman records his fourth three-hit and his 14th multi-hit game of the season
- Horton ties catcher Three Hillier for the longest hitting streak by a Flame this season, extending his hitting streak to 11. The first baseman has reached base safely in 21 consecutive contests and now has 15 multi-hit games on the season.
- Kepley has reached base safely in 13 consecutive contests and records his 11th multi-hit game.
- Flames center fielder Kane Kepley singled and walked twice in the game. He has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games.
Next Up
Liberty will open pool play at the ASUN Baseball Championship at Melching Field at Conrad Park in DeLand, Fla., on Tuesday. The Flames’ opponent and game times will be announced tomorrow.
Featured in Main Photo: Gray Betts
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nolan Pender (5-7)
L: Erickson, David (2-2)
Batting:
HR: Reed Blaszczyk 1 ; Gabe Bratetic 1
RBI: Dylan Byerly 1 ; Reed Blaszczyk 2 ; Colin Bertsch 1 ; Tommy Dilz 2 ; Gabe Bratetic 3 ; Brett Pfaadt 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Casey Sorg 1 ; Peyton Back 1 ; Davis Crane 3 ; Reed Blaszczyk 2 ; Colin Bertsch 2 ; Tommy Dilz 3 ; Gabe Bratetic 1
SB: Dylan Byerly 1
HBP: Brett Pfaadt 2
Batting:
2B: Horton, Brayden 2 ; Hertzler, Cole 1
3B: Betts, Gray 1
RBI: Horton, Brayden 1 ; Betts, Gray 3 ; Foster, Cam 1 ; Hertzler, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kepley, Kane 3 ; Horton, Brayden 2 ; Hudson, Todd 1
