The No. 1 seed Liberty Flames routed the No. 6 Eastern Kentucky Colonels, 18-9, to advance to the ASUN Conference Championship game Saturday afternoon at Swanson Stadium.
After the Colonels tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth inning, Liberty plated three in the bottom of the inning to take an 8-5 lead and then struck for 10 runs in the sixth for a commanding advantage.
Liberty belted five home runs in the contest. Left fielder Three Hillier had two in the contest, while Logan Mathieu hit a grand slam, and Cameron Foster and Derek Orndorff also connected on round trippers for the Flames.
Liberty catcher Gray Betts had a game-high four hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Hillier and Mathieu each added three hits apiece. Mathieu also tripled and knocked in a game-high five runs, while Hillier collected four RBI.
The Flames move to 37-20 on the season and are unbeaten in the tournament with a 4-0 mark. The Colonels’ season comes to end with a 38-20 record.