LYNCHBURG, VA. – The Jacksonville State Gamecocks halted Liberty’s eight-game winning streak, downing the Flames 8-4 in the CUSA series opener at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Trailing 3-2 in a tight contest in the top of the sixth, Jax State scored five runs on five hits to take a 7-3 lead en route to remaining unbeaten in CUSA play.
Gamecock pitching stranded 14 Liberty runners in the contest.
Liberty left fielder Nick Barone collected two hits, one of which was his fifth home run of the season, had two RBI and scored a run.
Liberty falls to 9-4 in Conference USA and 23-10 overall. Jax State stays unbeaten in CUSA, upping its record to 13-0 in conference and 29-6 overall.
Box Score Highlights
Records: Jax State (29-6, 13-0); Liberty (22-9)
Location: Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium
WP: Maddox McDougal (3-0) | LP: Ben Blair (5-2) | SV: Jackson Sleeper (2)
Scoring Summary
1st – LIBERTY – Barone walks, Marsh scores, 1-0
1st – LIBERTY – Swofford walks, DeCandido, 2-0
3rd – JSU – Cash singles, King scores, 2-1
3rd – LIBERTY – Drumm grounds out, Sorenson scores, 3-1
4th – JSU – King singles, Thomas scores, 3-2
6th – JSU – Blauser singles, Johnson scores, 3-3
6th – JSU – King doubles, Thomas and Blauser 5-3
6th – JSU Williams scores on a wild pitch, 6-3
6th – JSU Lachance singles, King scores, 7-3
8th – JSU – Pena doubles, Williams scores, 8-3
9th – LIBERTY – Barone homers, 8-4
Notable Numbers
– Jax State outhit Liberty, 11-8. Neither team committed an error.
– Liberty left 14 men on base. Jax State left five.
– Shortstop Tanner Marsh and first baseman Jaxon Sorenson joined Barone with two hits apiece for the Flames.
– Liberty right-hander Ben Blair takes the loss. He gave up seven runs on nine hits over six innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter
– Gamecock reliever Maddox McDougall records the win. He pitched three scoreless innings, allowing three hits. He struck out two and walked one.
– Third baseman Trey King went 3-for-3 with three RBI and scored two runs.
Beyond the Box Score
– With Jax State taking the first game of the series, Liberty’s win streak comes to an end at eight games. The Flames also had a 10-game winning streak earlier in the year, their longest of the season.
– Barone hit his third home run in five games. He posts his ninth multi-hit contest of the year.
– Marsh records his team-leading 14th multi-hit game in the contest.
– Jaffe singled in the eighth inning. The third baseman has at least one hit in 11 consecutive games.
– Riley DeCandido singled in the first and scored a run to extend his reached base safely streak to a team-high 22 consecutive games.
Up Next
Liberty and Jacksonville State will meet in the middle game of their three-game series tomorrow. The first pitch at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.