The Liberty Flames baseball team lost to the Virginia Tech Hokies, 8-4, at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium on May 6. The defeat ended a six-game winning streak for the Flames and brought their record to 35-14 for the season.
The game saw Virginia Tech take an early lead, scoring seven runs over the first six and a half innings. Liberty was held hitless until Easton Swofford’s single in the seventh inning started a rally that produced four runs for the home team. However, Hokies pitcher Preston Crowl came in to pitch the final two and one-third innings, stopping Liberty’s comeback attempt and securing the win for Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech outhit Liberty by an 11-5 margin and committed one error during the contest. Both teams used a combined total of fourteen pitchers throughout this midweek matchup. Ethan Grim earned his second win of the season after pitching two and two-thirds innings without allowing a hit, while Brandon Dahlman took his first loss after giving up three earned runs on five hits across three innings.
Henry Cooke led Virginia Tech offensively with two hits, including a home run, and drove in three runs. Four Hokies finished with multiple hits while each of Liberty’s five hits came from different batters. The loss puts Liberty at an even record against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents this year.
Shortstop Tanner Marsh extended his hitting streak to thirteen games during Liberty’s seventh-inning rally. Third baseman Jordan Jaffe went hitless for only the first time in twelve games, ending his streaks both for consecutive games with a hit (twelve) and reaching base (thirty-six).
Looking ahead, Liberty will host LA Tech at Worthington Field this weekend for their final home series of the regular season as part of Conference USA play. The Friday night opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., with Senior Day celebrations planned on Saturday.
