Friday, February 14
Lynchburg, Va.
12:00 PM ET
Liberty University
1-0
12
vs
3
St. John's
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
St. John's
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
3
1
LIBERTY
4
4
0
1
0
2
0
1
X
12
14
0
Liberty Sweeps Twin Bill from St. John’s to Open Season
2/14/2025 9:17:00 PM | Baseball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty Flames opened their 2025 season and began the Bradley LeCroy era by sweeping a doubleheader from the St. John's Red Storm, 12-3 and 3-0, Friday afternoon at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Liberty was playing its first games under LeCroy, who was named the program's eighth head coach this past July.
In game one, Liberty jumped out to an 8-0 lead, striking for four runs apiece in the first and second innings, while its pitching did not allow a hit or a baserunner through the first seven innings.
Flames' right-hander Dylan Mathiesen pitched four scoreless innings, striking out six and not walking a batter, to record the win. Meanwhile, left fielder Nick Barone knocked in four runs with two hits, one a double, in his Liberty debut, while right fielder Camden Troyer also drove in four runs with two hits, including a double.
In game two, Liberty took a 1-0 advantage after one inning on a Jaxson Sorenson double. However, runs would be at a premium during the rest of the game. Liberty starter Ben Blair and St. John's starter David Rodriguez locked in a pitcher's duel through the first five innings, with the Flames' first inning run the only run of the contest.
In the sixth, Troyer extended Liberty's lead with his first home run of the season, a solo blast off reliever Louis Marinaro, leading off the inning.
Blair recorded the win with six shutout innings. He struck out a career-high 11 batters and walked two. Caleb Lingenfelter pitched two scoreless innings and Tyler August pitched the ninth to complete the shutout.
Liberty opens the season 2-0. St. John's begins the year 0-2.
Box Score Highlights
Records: St. John's (0-2); Liberty (2-0)
Location: Lynchburg, Va. (Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium)
Game 1: WP: Dylan Mathiesen | LP: Evan Chaffee (0-1)
Game 2: WP: Ben Blair (1-0) | LP: David Rodriguez (0-1) | SV: August (1)
Game 1 Scoring Summary
1st – LIBERTY – Barone double, Marsh and DeCandido score, 2-0
1st – LIBERTY – Troyer grounds out, Sorenson scores, 3-0
1st - LIBERTY – Scilley flies out, Barone scores, 4-0
2nd - LIBERTY – Barone walks, Moore scores, 5-0
2nd - LIBERTY – Troyer singles, Sorenson and Marsh scores, 7-0
2nd - LIBERTY – Scilley singles, Troyer scores, 8-0
4th - LIBERTY – Barone singles, Marsh scores, 9-0
6th - LIBERTY – Troyer doubles, Sorenson scores, 10-0
6th – LIBERTY – Scilley singles, Troyer scores, 11-0
8th – SJU – Bernardini flies out, Raifstanger scores, 11-1
8th – SJU – Orbon singles, Jeremiah scores, 11-2
8th – SJU – Orbon scores on a wild pitch, 11-3
8th – LIBERTY – Early singles, Simmons scores, 12-3
Game 2 Scoring Summary
1st - LIBERTY – Sorenson doubles, DeCandido scores, 1-0
6th - LIBERTY – Troyer homers, 2-0
8th – LIBERTY – Barone scores on a wild pitch, 3-0
Notable Numbers
- Liberty outhit St. John's, 14-3, in game one. The Red Storm held a 7-4 advantage in hits in game two.
- St. John's committed one error in each game of the doubleheader. Liberty did not commit an error in either game.
- The Flames left 10 men on base in game one and 10 in game two. The Red Storm left two men on base in game one and eight in game two.
- Besides Barone and Troyer, shortstop Tanner Marsh, center fielder Landon Scilley and second baseman Easton Swofford each had two hits apiece.
- Marsh and third baseman Jaxon Sorenson each scored three times for the Flames.
- Relievers Spencer Williams, Jack Frankel and Josh McCusker combined to pitch four innings of scoreless relief for the Flames in game one.
- St. John's starter Evan Chaffee takes the loss. He allowed eight runs on four hits over two innings. He struck out one and walked five.
- No Red Storm batter had more than one hit in game one.
- In game two, no Liberty hitter had more than one hit.
- Rodriguez, making his collegiate debut, takes the loss in game two for St. John's. The freshman gave up one run on one hit. He struck out three and walked six.
Beyond the Box Score
- Liberty moves to 30-21 all-time in season openers and 15-4 at home.
- Freshman Scilley and infielder Cal Early each collected their first collegiate hit in game one. Scilley had an RBI single in the second, while Early had an RBI in his first collegiate at bat as a pinch hitter.
- Mathiesen, mainly a relief pitcher in 2024, had his longest outing as a Flame in game one of the doubleheader. His four-inning stint was the longest of his career. Previously, the junior right-hander had not pitched further than 3 2/3 innings. He also tied his career-high of six strikeouts. Both came in a 2-1 win in 11 innings at UNCW on Feb. 28, 2024.
- Blair posted the longest outing of his career in game two of the twin bill. The right-hander's previous high was four innings at Charleston on March 5, 2024. In addition, he stuck out a career-high 11. He had never struck out more than four in a game as a freshman in 2024.
- August earned his first collegiate save with a scoreless ninth inning in game two. The transfer did not record a save during his freshman season at Delaware.
Up Next
Liberty will host St. John's for the final game of the three-game season-opening series on Sunday. Game time at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Liberty was playing its first games under LeCroy, who was named the program's eighth head coach this past July.
In game one, Liberty jumped out to an 8-0 lead, striking for four runs apiece in the first and second innings, while its pitching did not allow a hit or a baserunner through the first seven innings.
Flames' right-hander Dylan Mathiesen pitched four scoreless innings, striking out six and not walking a batter, to record the win. Meanwhile, left fielder Nick Barone knocked in four runs with two hits, one a double, in his Liberty debut, while right fielder Camden Troyer also drove in four runs with two hits, including a double.
In game two, Liberty took a 1-0 advantage after one inning on a Jaxson Sorenson double. However, runs would be at a premium during the rest of the game. Liberty starter Ben Blair and St. John's starter David Rodriguez locked in a pitcher's duel through the first five innings, with the Flames' first inning run the only run of the contest.
In the sixth, Troyer extended Liberty's lead with his first home run of the season, a solo blast off reliever Louis Marinaro, leading off the inning.
Blair recorded the win with six shutout innings. He struck out a career-high 11 batters and walked two. Caleb Lingenfelter pitched two scoreless innings and Tyler August pitched the ninth to complete the shutout.
Liberty opens the season 2-0. St. John's begins the year 0-2.
Box Score Highlights
Records: St. John's (0-2); Liberty (2-0)
Location: Lynchburg, Va. (Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium)
Game 1: WP: Dylan Mathiesen | LP: Evan Chaffee (0-1)
Game 2: WP: Ben Blair (1-0) | LP: David Rodriguez (0-1) | SV: August (1)
Game 1 Scoring Summary
1st – LIBERTY – Barone double, Marsh and DeCandido score, 2-0
1st – LIBERTY – Troyer grounds out, Sorenson scores, 3-0
1st - LIBERTY – Scilley flies out, Barone scores, 4-0
2nd - LIBERTY – Barone walks, Moore scores, 5-0
2nd - LIBERTY – Troyer singles, Sorenson and Marsh scores, 7-0
2nd - LIBERTY – Scilley singles, Troyer scores, 8-0
4th - LIBERTY – Barone singles, Marsh scores, 9-0
6th - LIBERTY – Troyer doubles, Sorenson scores, 10-0
6th – LIBERTY – Scilley singles, Troyer scores, 11-0
8th – SJU – Bernardini flies out, Raifstanger scores, 11-1
8th – SJU – Orbon singles, Jeremiah scores, 11-2
8th – SJU – Orbon scores on a wild pitch, 11-3
8th – LIBERTY – Early singles, Simmons scores, 12-3
Game 2 Scoring Summary
1st - LIBERTY – Sorenson doubles, DeCandido scores, 1-0
6th - LIBERTY – Troyer homers, 2-0
8th – LIBERTY – Barone scores on a wild pitch, 3-0
Notable Numbers
- Liberty outhit St. John's, 14-3, in game one. The Red Storm held a 7-4 advantage in hits in game two.
- St. John's committed one error in each game of the doubleheader. Liberty did not commit an error in either game.
- The Flames left 10 men on base in game one and 10 in game two. The Red Storm left two men on base in game one and eight in game two.
- Besides Barone and Troyer, shortstop Tanner Marsh, center fielder Landon Scilley and second baseman Easton Swofford each had two hits apiece.
- Marsh and third baseman Jaxon Sorenson each scored three times for the Flames.
- Relievers Spencer Williams, Jack Frankel and Josh McCusker combined to pitch four innings of scoreless relief for the Flames in game one.
- St. John's starter Evan Chaffee takes the loss. He allowed eight runs on four hits over two innings. He struck out one and walked five.
- No Red Storm batter had more than one hit in game one.
- In game two, no Liberty hitter had more than one hit.
- Rodriguez, making his collegiate debut, takes the loss in game two for St. John's. The freshman gave up one run on one hit. He struck out three and walked six.
Beyond the Box Score
- Liberty moves to 30-21 all-time in season openers and 15-4 at home.
- Freshman Scilley and infielder Cal Early each collected their first collegiate hit in game one. Scilley had an RBI single in the second, while Early had an RBI in his first collegiate at bat as a pinch hitter.
- Mathiesen, mainly a relief pitcher in 2024, had his longest outing as a Flame in game one of the doubleheader. His four-inning stint was the longest of his career. Previously, the junior right-hander had not pitched further than 3 2/3 innings. He also tied his career-high of six strikeouts. Both came in a 2-1 win in 11 innings at UNCW on Feb. 28, 2024.
- Blair posted the longest outing of his career in game two of the twin bill. The right-hander's previous high was four innings at Charleston on March 5, 2024. In addition, he stuck out a career-high 11. He had never struck out more than four in a game as a freshman in 2024.
- August earned his first collegiate save with a scoreless ninth inning in game two. The transfer did not record a save during his freshman season at Delaware.
Up Next
Liberty will host St. John's for the final game of the three-game season-opening series on Sunday. Game time at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mathiesen, Dylan (1-0)
L: Chaffee (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Bernardini 1 ; Orbon 1
SF: Bernardini 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Raifstanger 1 ; Jeremiah 1 ; Orbon 1
HBP: Falcon 1 ; Brienza 1
Batting:
2B: Barone, Nick 1 ; Troyer, Camden 1
RBI: Barone, Nick 4 ; Troyer, Camden 4 ; Scilley, Landon 3 ; Early, Callum 1
SF: Scilley, Landon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DeCandido, Riley 1 ; Marsh, Tanner 3 ; Sorenson, Jaxon 3 ; Barone, Nick 2 ; Troyer, Camden 1 ; Simmons, John 1 ; Moore, Tucker 1
SB: Marsh, Tanner 1
HBP: DeCandido, Riley 1 ; Moore, Tucker 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballRHP/INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
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Wednesday, May 07