Liberty second baseman Will Shepherd had three hits, as the Flames and No. 23 Coastal Carolina met in a regular-season game for the last time as Big South Conference opponents, Sunday at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
The Big South-leading Chanticleers constructed a big lead early, en route to a 17-3 victory.
Shepherd went 3-for-4 with a double and run scored in the contest for Liberty. He was also hit by a pitch. The contest was the junior’s fifth three-hit and his 20th multiple-hit game, this season.
Liberty falls to 7-11 in Big South play and 22-26 overall. The Flames have lost four straight contests. Coastal Carolina moves to 16-2 in conference and 34-14 overall. With the win, Coastal Carolina becomes the first team to sweep Liberty in the Flames’ four seasons at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
In addition, the contest was the last regular-season meeting between the two teams as Big South Conference opponents. Next season, Coastal Carolina will begins competition in the Sun Belt Conference.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning. Chanticleers right fielder Connor Owings, who had three hits and scored four times in the contest, doubled with two outs and scored on a single by designated hitter G.K. Young in the top of the inning.
Liberty knotted the contest in the bottom of the inning. Center fielder D.J. Artis and designated hitter Nick Walker walked and Shepherd was hit by a pitch, loading the bases to open the frame. A one-out ground out by shortstop Dalton Britt, who had two RBI in the game, plated Shepherd to tie the score at 1-1.
Coastal Carolina batted around in the second and third innings. In the second inning, the Chanticleers used two hits and two Liberty errors to score five runs. Shortstop Michael Paez’s one-out, two-run triple highlighted the inning. In the third, Coastal Carolina sent 11 men to the plate, plating seven runs on four hits to build a 13-1 advantage. Third baseman Zach Remillard provided the key hit in the inning, belting a grand slam, his 13th home run of the season.
Liberty pushed across a run in the bottom of the third. Shepherd opened the home half of the inning with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Andrew Kowalo.
Coastal Carolina added single runs in the sixth and ninth innings, and plated two runs in the eighth.
A solo home run by Owings, his 13th of the year, provided the Chanticleers’ run in the sixth.
Liberty scored its final run of the contest in the seventh. Shepherd beat out an infield single with one out and moved to second on a single by left fielder Andrew Yacyk. Britt followed with a RBI single.
Flames starting pitcher Jack DeGroat drops to 2-3 on the season. The right-hander allowed five runs, three earned, on four hits over 1 1/3-plus innings. He struck out two and walked three batters.
Chanticleers reliever Austin Kitchen moves to 4-0. He pitched three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, striking out two and walking one.
Liberty had eight hits on the afternoon. Coastal Carolina collected 15. Remillard had five RBI for the Chanticleers. The Flames committed a season-high five errors in the contest.
Liberty will continue its eight-game homestand, Wednesday afternoon. The Flames will host the Old Dominion Monarchs at Liberty Baseball Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.