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Liberty knocks off No. 19 Duke to advance to regional final

liberty basketballCenter fielder Jaylen Guy’s grand slam highlighted an eight-run first inning as the Liberty Flames eliminated the No. 19 Duke Blue Devils, 15-4, in Game 5 of the 2021 Knoxville Regional Sunday afternoon.

With its victory, Liberty moves into its second regional final in program history and its first since 2013. The Flames will face No. 2 Tennessee later today. To advance to its first ever Super Regional, Liberty will have to beat the Volunteers tonight and tomorrow to win the regional.

Liberty scored the most runs in a NCAA Regional in program history in the contest. The Flames opened the game by scoring eight runs on five hits to jump out to an 8-0 advantage after one inning of play. Seven of the eight came with two out, including Guy’s first grand slam of his career and his third home run of the season. Guy had two hits and a career-high five RBI in the game. He also robbed a Blue Devil of a home run with a spectacular catch in the seventh inning.

Liberty third baseman Trey McDyre also hit his second home run of the season and first baseman Logan Mathieu hit his 15th home run of the year in the contest.

Flames pitcher Mason Meyer pitched the first complete game of his career. The left-hander allowed three runs on 10 hits in completing the full nine innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Liberty improves to 41-15 on the year. Duke, the 2021 ACC Champion, ends the year with a 33-22 mark.

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