A little late in getting back but while I was gone, the Liberty Flames got off to a (excuse the pun) hot start last weekend down in Kennesaw GA as they faced the Kennesaw State Owls to open the 2010 season.
Friday saw the opener to the 2009 season and the Flames got on the board first thanks to a pair of runs in the first inning, the first courtesy of freshman All-American Tyler Bream, who was returning from an injury. Bream, who had one of the hottest bats before getting hurt, showed no effects of rust as he smashed a double into rightfield and gave the Flames first blood. Right fielder Michael Thompson them followed with a suicide squeeze to plate Curran Redal (who had been hit by a pitch earlier in the inning) and give the Flames a 2-0 lead. After KSU cut the lead in half, followed by a scoreless second inning, Redal and Robertson went to work again, as this time Redal ripped a single through the box and after advancing all the way to third, Robertson drove him in a second time with his own single giving LU a two run lead again, 3-1.
After a scoreless fourth and fifth innings, LU turned the fire up and blew the game wide open, scoring four runs on four hits to take a 7-1 lead. From there Liberty cruised to a 10-4 win. Bream led the way going 3-3 with 4 RBI including a towering home run in the eighth inning. Senior Shawn Teufel got the win for LU tossing 4 innings of one-hit ball and striking out seven.
Saturday was more of the same as the Flames again jumped out to a 2-1 lead and then scored eight unanswered runs the rest of the way on the way to an 11-2 win. Junior transfer Jerry Neufang drove in three runs and the FLames got nine hits to back Keegan Linza in his debut in an LU uniform as he went six innings, walking one and striking out eight.
Sunday was a near repeat of the series opener as LU jumped to an early lead, but this time the Owls were able to tie it in teh bottom of the first, before the bats came to life and LU outscored KSU 9-3 (including five straight runs) the rest of the way to get the sweep 10-4. Tyler Bream ked teh way going 4-5 to finish the weekend with a .700 batting average, while PJ Jimenez and MIchael Roberston both went 3-5 to back starter Steven Evans, who went four innings, allowing a run and two walks while striking out 4 to get the win.
This weekend the Flames head down to Wilmington NC for the Hughes Brothers Challenge hosted by UNC Wilmington. the Flames will play Morehead State Friday to open, then Lehigh on Saturday and finish the weekend against the very good host Seahawks. Check out Chris Lang's blog on the Lynchburg News and Advance website for more information.
Until next time,
Fan the Flames
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