Sunday, February 15
Charleston, S.C.
11:00 AM ET
Liberty University
2-1
5
at
4
The Citadel
1-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Liberty
0
2
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
5
5
4
The Citadel
0
2
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
4
6
0
Flames Rally for 5-4 Win Over The Citadel to Take Opening-Weekend Series
2/15/2026 4:51:00 PM | Baseball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Liberty plated single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to rally for a 5-4 victory over The Citadel, Sunday afternoon, at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
With the come-from-behind win, Liberty takes its opening series of the 2026 season and moves to 2-1 on the year. The Citadel finishes the weekend with a 1-2 mark.
Both teams plated a pair of runs in the second inning to knot the tightly contested series again early in the contest.
Jordan Jaffe got the scoring going for the Flames with an opposite field triple down the first base line to score Kyle Hvidsten. Easton Swofford grounded out to first base on the next Flames' at bat, plating Jaffe and giving Liberty a 2-0 edge.
In the bottom of the frame, a leadoff single by Zach Hunt and a walk to Miles Barbrey set the stage for the home team to quickly tie the game. Hunt would later score on a ground out by Christian Stratis and Hunt scored on one of Liberty's four errors in the game.
The score remained the same until the fifth inning when Hunt tripled down the right field line to score Phillips Daniels. Barbrey followed in the next at bat with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Hunt and giving the home team a 4-2 edge.
The Flames slowly chipped away at the lead by scoring single runs in the next three innings. The rally started with a single by Jaffe, who later crossed the plate on a ground out by Swofford.
The seventh and eighth frames saw the Flames manufacture runs by getting a pair of sacrifice flies.
After hitting 14 home runs in 2025, Jaxon Sorenson nearly got his first of 2026, but his long shot fell just short of the wall in right field, scoring Riley DeCandido to tie the game.
In the eighth, Jaffe started Liberty's last offensive threat by leading off the inning with a double and was replaced at second by pinch runner Landon Scilley.
Following a walk and a sacrifice bunt, Tanner Marsh lofted a ball to center that allowed Scilley to score and put the Flames up for good.
Bradley Zayac tossed the final four innings of the game and got two of his seventh strikeouts in the ninth inning to secure the victory.
Box Score Highlights
Records: The Citadel (1-2); Liberty (2-1)
Location: Charleston, S.C. (Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park)
WP: Bradley Zayac (1-0) | LP: Trip Brown (0-1)
Scoring Summary
2nd – LIBERTY – Jaffe tripled, Hvidsten scored, 1-0
2nd – LIBERTY – Swofford grounded out to first, Jaffe scored, 2-0
2nd – THE CITADEL – Fulmer grounded out to third, Hunt scored, 2-1
2nd – THE CITADEL – Lively reached on throwing error, Barbrey scored, 2-2
5th – THE CITADEL – Hunt tripled, Daniels scored, 3-2
5th – THE CITADEL – Barbey sacrifice fly, Hunt scored, 4-2
6th – LIBERTY – Swofford grounded out to second, Hvidsten scored, 4-3
7th – LIBERTY – Sorenson sacrifice fly, DeCandido scored, 4-4
8th – LIBERTY – Marsh sacrifice fly, Scilley scored, 5-4
Notable Numbers
- The Citadel edge Liberty in the hit column, 5-4, while finishing the game without an error. The Flames committed four errors in the game and 10 in the series.
- The teams both had additional scoring opportunities as they equally left 10 runners on base.
- Jordan Jaffe capped off his first weekend as a Flame going 3-for-4 in the game, while the Richmond transfer fell a home run short of hitting for the cycle.
- Easton Swofford drove in two of Liberty's five runs on the day.
- Catcher Kyle Hvidsten finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs scored, while adding 11 putouts as three Flames pitchers struck out 11 batters.
- Riley DeCandido was 1-for-2 at the plate today and recorded three of Liberty's nine walks.
- Jake Potts started the game for the Flames, allowing one earned run on two hits over 3.0 innings of work and striking out three batters.
- East Carolina transfer Bradley Zayac picked up his first win as a Flame, working 4.0 innings, while allowing no runs on three hits and fanning seven.
- After Liberty recorded 10 or more strikeouts in 23 games in 2025, three Flames' pitchers reached the mark for the first time in 2026 today with 11 strikeouts.
Beyond the Box Score
- After taking two of three games this weekend, Liberty now leads the closely contested series against The Citadel, 5-4.
- This marks the third-straight year Liberty has won its opening series of the season.
- The Flames' 2024 and 2025 season-opening series wins took place at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
- The Flames have now won back-to-back road series after taking two of three from FIU in Miami during its final road series of 2025 (May 10-12).
- Liberty, who ranked No. 3 nationally in fielding percentage in 2026, finished the weekend series with 10 errors.
- After posting a 6-8 record in one-run games in 2025, the Flames are now 1-1 in one-run games early in 2026.
- Following this weekend's series, the Flames will now play 14 of their next 16 games at home at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
- Liberty plated its last two runs on the game on sacrifice flies, giving the Flames four sac flies on the weekend. In 2025, Liberty had 22 sacrifices flies.
Up Next
The Flames have the midweek off to prepare for their home opener against 2025 NCAA Super Regional participant West Virginia (3-0).
The three-game series gets underway on Friday, with the first pitch from Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium set for 4 p.m.
Season and single-game tickets are still on sale for 2026 and can be purchased at
www.LibertyFlamesBaseball.com.
With the come-from-behind win, Liberty takes its opening series of the 2026 season and moves to 2-1 on the year. The Citadel finishes the weekend with a 1-2 mark.
Both teams plated a pair of runs in the second inning to knot the tightly contested series again early in the contest.
Jordan Jaffe got the scoring going for the Flames with an opposite field triple down the first base line to score Kyle Hvidsten. Easton Swofford grounded out to first base on the next Flames' at bat, plating Jaffe and giving Liberty a 2-0 edge.
In the bottom of the frame, a leadoff single by Zach Hunt and a walk to Miles Barbrey set the stage for the home team to quickly tie the game. Hunt would later score on a ground out by Christian Stratis and Hunt scored on one of Liberty's four errors in the game.
The score remained the same until the fifth inning when Hunt tripled down the right field line to score Phillips Daniels. Barbrey followed in the next at bat with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Hunt and giving the home team a 4-2 edge.
The Flames slowly chipped away at the lead by scoring single runs in the next three innings. The rally started with a single by Jaffe, who later crossed the plate on a ground out by Swofford.
The seventh and eighth frames saw the Flames manufacture runs by getting a pair of sacrifice flies.
After hitting 14 home runs in 2025, Jaxon Sorenson nearly got his first of 2026, but his long shot fell just short of the wall in right field, scoring Riley DeCandido to tie the game.
In the eighth, Jaffe started Liberty's last offensive threat by leading off the inning with a double and was replaced at second by pinch runner Landon Scilley.
Following a walk and a sacrifice bunt, Tanner Marsh lofted a ball to center that allowed Scilley to score and put the Flames up for good.
Bradley Zayac tossed the final four innings of the game and got two of his seventh strikeouts in the ninth inning to secure the victory.
Box Score Highlights
Records: The Citadel (1-2); Liberty (2-1)
Location: Charleston, S.C. (Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park)
WP: Bradley Zayac (1-0) | LP: Trip Brown (0-1)
Scoring Summary
2nd – LIBERTY – Jaffe tripled, Hvidsten scored, 1-0
2nd – LIBERTY – Swofford grounded out to first, Jaffe scored, 2-0
2nd – THE CITADEL – Fulmer grounded out to third, Hunt scored, 2-1
2nd – THE CITADEL – Lively reached on throwing error, Barbrey scored, 2-2
5th – THE CITADEL – Hunt tripled, Daniels scored, 3-2
5th – THE CITADEL – Barbey sacrifice fly, Hunt scored, 4-2
6th – LIBERTY – Swofford grounded out to second, Hvidsten scored, 4-3
7th – LIBERTY – Sorenson sacrifice fly, DeCandido scored, 4-4
8th – LIBERTY – Marsh sacrifice fly, Scilley scored, 5-4
Notable Numbers
- The Citadel edge Liberty in the hit column, 5-4, while finishing the game without an error. The Flames committed four errors in the game and 10 in the series.
- The teams both had additional scoring opportunities as they equally left 10 runners on base.
- Jordan Jaffe capped off his first weekend as a Flame going 3-for-4 in the game, while the Richmond transfer fell a home run short of hitting for the cycle.
- Easton Swofford drove in two of Liberty's five runs on the day.
- Catcher Kyle Hvidsten finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs scored, while adding 11 putouts as three Flames pitchers struck out 11 batters.
- Riley DeCandido was 1-for-2 at the plate today and recorded three of Liberty's nine walks.
- Jake Potts started the game for the Flames, allowing one earned run on two hits over 3.0 innings of work and striking out three batters.
- East Carolina transfer Bradley Zayac picked up his first win as a Flame, working 4.0 innings, while allowing no runs on three hits and fanning seven.
- After Liberty recorded 10 or more strikeouts in 23 games in 2025, three Flames' pitchers reached the mark for the first time in 2026 today with 11 strikeouts.
Beyond the Box Score
- After taking two of three games this weekend, Liberty now leads the closely contested series against The Citadel, 5-4.
- This marks the third-straight year Liberty has won its opening series of the season.
- The Flames' 2024 and 2025 season-opening series wins took place at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
- The Flames have now won back-to-back road series after taking two of three from FIU in Miami during its final road series of 2025 (May 10-12).
- Liberty, who ranked No. 3 nationally in fielding percentage in 2026, finished the weekend series with 10 errors.
- After posting a 6-8 record in one-run games in 2025, the Flames are now 1-1 in one-run games early in 2026.
- Following this weekend's series, the Flames will now play 14 of their next 16 games at home at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
- Liberty plated its last two runs on the game on sacrifice flies, giving the Flames four sac flies on the weekend. In 2025, Liberty had 22 sacrifices flies.
Up Next
The Flames have the midweek off to prepare for their home opener against 2025 NCAA Super Regional participant West Virginia (3-0).
The three-game series gets underway on Friday, with the first pitch from Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium set for 4 p.m.
Season and single-game tickets are still on sale for 2026 and can be purchased at
www.LibertyFlamesBaseball.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Zayac, Bradley (1-0)
L: Trip Brown (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Jaffe, Jordan 1
3B: Jaffe, Jordan 1
RBI: Marsh, Tanner 1 ; Sorenson, Jaxon 1 ; Jaffe, Jordan 1 ; Swofford, Easton 2
SH: Campos, Josh 1
SF: Marsh, Tanner 1 ; Sorenson, Jaxon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DeCandido, Riley 1 ; Hvidsten, Kyle 2 ; Jaffe, Jordan 1 ; Scilley, Landon 1
SB: Marsh, Tanner 1
HBP: Campos, Josh 1
Batting:
3B: Zach Hunt 1
RBI: Zach Hunt 1 ; Miles Barbrey 1 ; Garrett Fulmer 1
SH: Christian Stratis 1
SF: Miles Barbrey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Phillips Daniels 1 ; Zach Hunt 2 ; Miles Barbrey 1
SB: Miles Barbrey 1
HBP: Phillips Daniels 1 ; Christian Stratis 1 ; Lane Tobin 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP/INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseballvs. The Citadel
Sunday, February 15
Tanner Marsh Talks About The Start Of Baseball Season
Thursday, February 05
Coach LeCroy Talks About The Upcoming Season
Wednesday, January 21
Liberty Baseball Mission Trip to Guatemala
Tuesday, October 14