Friday, February 13
Charleston, S.C.
4:00 PM ET
Liberty University
1-0
7
at
3
The Citadel
0-1
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Liberty
0
0
2
2
3
0
0
0
0
7
7
4
The Citadel
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
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4
1
Blair Shines in Season-Opening Win at The Citadel
2/13/2026 7:59:00 PM | Baseball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Ben Blair lived up to his billing, leading Liberty to a 7-3 season-opening win over The Citadel, Friday afternoon, at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
Blair was efficient in his 2026 debut, needing just 72 pitches to get through six scoreless innings of work. The junior struck out eight batters, while issuing no walks and one hit to pick up his 11th career win for the Flames.
Offensively, Liberty scored all seven of its runs in the third through fifth inning and held a commanding 7-0 lead midway through the contest.
Conference USA Preseason All-Conference selection Tanner Marsh paced Liberty's offense, going 2-for-4 from the plate. He scored two runs, including one following his third career triple to lead off a three-run fifth inning.
A pair of Flames had hits leave the Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, as Riley DeCandido and Nick Barone both recorded home runs. The pair accounted for 11 of Liberty's 57 home runs during the 2025 season.
DeCandido finished the game 1-for-2 from the plate with two RBI and two runs scored, while Barone's lone hit in five plate appearances was his two-run homer in the fifth.
The Citadel tried to rally late in the game, scoring one run on a double play ball in the eighth inning and added two more in the ninth before the Flames secured the 2026 opening game victory.
With the win, Liberty moves to 1-0 on the season, while The Citadel falls to 0-1.
Box Score Highlights
Records: The Citadel (0-1); Liberty (1-0)
Location: Charleston, S.C. (Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park)
WP: Ben Blair (1-0) | LP: Will Holmes (0-1)
Scoring Summary
3rd – LIBERTY – DeCandido homered, Marsh scored, 2-0
4th – LIBERTY – Grabowski singled, Jaffe and Hvidsten scored, 4-0
5th – LIBERTY – Drumm sacrifice fly, Marsh scored, 5-0
5th – LIBERTY – Barone homered, DeCandido scored, 7-0
8th – THE CITADEL – Williams grounded in double play, Tobin scored, 7-1
9th – THE CITADEL – Fulmer reached on an error, Daniels scored, 7-2
9th – THE CITADEL – Tobin reached on fielder choice, Stratis scored, 7-3
Notable Numbers
- Liberty outhit The Citadel, 7-4. The Flames committed four errors to the Bulldogs one miscue.
- The Flames left six men on base. The Citadel left five.
- Six of the nine players in Liberty's starting lineup finished the game with at least one hit.
- The Bulldogs' four hits were evenly shared by four different players.
- Josh McCusker closed out the ninth inning by fanning two of the four batters he faced and recording a pair of strikeouts to halt The Citadel's attempted rally.
Beyond the Box Score
- Liberty has won three season-opening games in a row and recorded the win in four of its last six season-opening games.
- Ben Blair also led the Flames to a season-opening victory in 2025, scattering five hits over six scoreless innings of work with 11 strikeouts in a 3-0 win at home over St. John's on February 14, 2025.
- The Flames also won their first road game during their first season under head coach Bradley LeCroy, winning, 9-8, at No. 12 NC State on February 18, 2025.
- After leading the Flames with 21 multi-hit games in 2025, Tanner Marsh opened 2026 with his 38th career multi-hit game (2-for-4).
- Including the 2026 season, Liberty has opened its season on the road in 18 of the last 21 seasons.
- Today's victory allowed the Flames to move to 31-21 in season-opening games since 1976.
- After leading Conference USA and ranking No. 3 in the country in fielding percentage, Liberty posted its highest error total (4) since recording six errors in a 10-0 loss against Middle Tennessee on March 23, 2024.
Up Next
The Flames and the Bulldogs will return to Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park on Saturday afternoon for the middle game of the season-opening series. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
Blair was efficient in his 2026 debut, needing just 72 pitches to get through six scoreless innings of work. The junior struck out eight batters, while issuing no walks and one hit to pick up his 11th career win for the Flames.
Offensively, Liberty scored all seven of its runs in the third through fifth inning and held a commanding 7-0 lead midway through the contest.
Conference USA Preseason All-Conference selection Tanner Marsh paced Liberty's offense, going 2-for-4 from the plate. He scored two runs, including one following his third career triple to lead off a three-run fifth inning.
A pair of Flames had hits leave the Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, as Riley DeCandido and Nick Barone both recorded home runs. The pair accounted for 11 of Liberty's 57 home runs during the 2025 season.
DeCandido finished the game 1-for-2 from the plate with two RBI and two runs scored, while Barone's lone hit in five plate appearances was his two-run homer in the fifth.
The Citadel tried to rally late in the game, scoring one run on a double play ball in the eighth inning and added two more in the ninth before the Flames secured the 2026 opening game victory.
With the win, Liberty moves to 1-0 on the season, while The Citadel falls to 0-1.
Box Score Highlights
Records: The Citadel (0-1); Liberty (1-0)
Location: Charleston, S.C. (Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park)
WP: Ben Blair (1-0) | LP: Will Holmes (0-1)
Scoring Summary
3rd – LIBERTY – DeCandido homered, Marsh scored, 2-0
4th – LIBERTY – Grabowski singled, Jaffe and Hvidsten scored, 4-0
5th – LIBERTY – Drumm sacrifice fly, Marsh scored, 5-0
5th – LIBERTY – Barone homered, DeCandido scored, 7-0
8th – THE CITADEL – Williams grounded in double play, Tobin scored, 7-1
9th – THE CITADEL – Fulmer reached on an error, Daniels scored, 7-2
9th – THE CITADEL – Tobin reached on fielder choice, Stratis scored, 7-3
Notable Numbers
- Liberty outhit The Citadel, 7-4. The Flames committed four errors to the Bulldogs one miscue.
- The Flames left six men on base. The Citadel left five.
- Six of the nine players in Liberty's starting lineup finished the game with at least one hit.
- The Bulldogs' four hits were evenly shared by four different players.
- Josh McCusker closed out the ninth inning by fanning two of the four batters he faced and recording a pair of strikeouts to halt The Citadel's attempted rally.
Beyond the Box Score
- Liberty has won three season-opening games in a row and recorded the win in four of its last six season-opening games.
- Ben Blair also led the Flames to a season-opening victory in 2025, scattering five hits over six scoreless innings of work with 11 strikeouts in a 3-0 win at home over St. John's on February 14, 2025.
- The Flames also won their first road game during their first season under head coach Bradley LeCroy, winning, 9-8, at No. 12 NC State on February 18, 2025.
- After leading the Flames with 21 multi-hit games in 2025, Tanner Marsh opened 2026 with his 38th career multi-hit game (2-for-4).
- Including the 2026 season, Liberty has opened its season on the road in 18 of the last 21 seasons.
- Today's victory allowed the Flames to move to 31-21 in season-opening games since 1976.
- After leading Conference USA and ranking No. 3 in the country in fielding percentage, Liberty posted its highest error total (4) since recording six errors in a 10-0 loss against Middle Tennessee on March 23, 2024.
Up Next
The Flames and the Bulldogs will return to Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park on Saturday afternoon for the middle game of the season-opening series. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Blair, Ben (1-0)
L: Will Holmes (0-1)
Batting:
3B: Marsh, Tanner 1
HR: DeCandido, Riley 1 ; Barone, Nick 1
RBI: DeCandido, Riley 2 ; Drumm, Ryan 1 ; Barone, Nick 2 ; Grabowski, Dylan 2
SH: DeCandido, Riley 1
SF: Drumm, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marsh, Tanner 2 ; DeCandido, Riley 2 ; Barone, Nick 1 ; Hvidsten, Kyle 1 ; Jaffe, Jordan 1
SB: Marsh, Tanner 1
HBP: DeCandido, Riley 1
PO: Drumm, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Phillips Daniels 1 ; TJ Anderson 1
RBI: Garrett Fulmer 1 ; Lane Tobin 1
SH: Matthew Lively 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Phillips Daniels 1 ; Christian Stratis 1 ; Lane Tobin 1
HBP: Lane Tobin 2
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
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INF
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RHP
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