Relievers Garret Price and Jack DeGroat held the Kentucky bats in check over the final three innings, helping to propel the Liberty Flames to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Wildcats, Wednesday afternoon at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Price, a freshman, pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings, allowing one hit and striking out two in the Flames’ home opener. DeGroat took over in the ninth inning and retired the side in order to earn his first save of the season.
Liberty designated hitter Eric Grabowski hit a two-run home run, his first of the season, and first baseman Sammy Taormina, the Big South Player of the Week, had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run in the victory.
Winners of three straight games, the Flames move to 3-1. The Wildcats drop to 0-4. It was the first-ever meeting between Liberty and Kentucky on the baseball diamond and the first time the Flames have hosted a SEC team at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
The visiting Wildcats took a 1-0 advantage in their opening at bat. Left fielder Zach Recks
led off the game with a single back through the middle, and later scored on a two-out single by designated hitter Kole Cottam.
Grabowski’s blast in the bottom of the second gave Liberty a short-lived lead. Taormina opened the inning with a single. Grabowski followed by ripping a 1-0 pitch out over the left-center field wall and off the scoreboard for a 2-1 edge.
Kentucky countered with a run of its own in the top of the third. With one out, right fielder Tristan Pompey doubled. Two batters later, center fielder Marcus Carson’s two-out double plated Pompey to tie the contest at 2-2.
The Wildcats took the lead in the top of the fifth on the first of two home runs by the visitors in the contest. Leading off the inning, second baseman Riley Mahan hit his second round tripper of the year over the right field wall to give Kentucky a 3-2 edge. However, the Wildcats then saw the Flames score three times during the bottom of the inning of the inning to take the lead for good.
With center fielder D.J. Artis on first, left fielder Jake Barbee lined a double down the right field line to put Flames on second and third with two out. After a Wildcats’ pitching change, right fielder Will Shepherd lined a two-run single into center field to put Liberty in front, 4-3. Two batters later, Taormina dropped a single into right, plating Shepherd for a 5-3 lead.
Kentucky cut their hosts’ advantage to one run in the top of the sixth. With two outs, shortstop Connor Heady hit his first home run of the season, slicing the Liberty advantage to 5-4.
However, that is as close as the Wildcats would get in the contest. Price and DeGroat combined to hold Kentucky without a run over the final three innings to seal the 5-4 victory and give first-year Head Coach Scott Jackson his first home win at Liberty.
Liberty left-hander Vinnie Tarantola records his first win in a Flames’ uniform, moving to 1-0 on the season. The second pitcher of the afternoon for the Flames, the reliever gave up one run on two hits over 2 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked one.
Making his first collegiate start, Kentucky left-hander Zack Thompson falls to 0-1 on the year. The freshman allowed four runs on four hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
Liberty collected seven hits in the contest, while Kentucky had nine. The Wildcats committed two errors.
Up Next: Liberty travels to Lexington, S.C., for the Lexington County vs. Cancer tournament at Lexington County Stadium. The Flames will face the UMBC Retrievers, Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Share
Contributors
