LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Presbyterian College baseball team fell behind at Liberty on Saturday afternoon and mounted a ninth-inning comeback bid, but the Flames held on for a 4-1 win at the Liberty Baseball Stadium.
PC moves to 16-11 overall and 1-4 in the Big South. Liberty improves to 16-10 and 3-2 in the Big South. The teams play the series finale on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Jared Lyons threw a complete game for the Flames, giving one up run and six hits with eight strikeouts.
Down 4-0, Glen Casaceli (Jupiter, Fla.) hit a leadoff single and took second on a groundout. Ryan Hedrick (High Point, N.C.) then singled, putting runners on the corners for a wild pitch that plated Casaceli for a 4-1 score. Unfortunately for the Blue Hose, Lyons retired the next two batters to seal the win.
PC stranded only three runners in the effort.
David Sauer (Irmo, S.C.) produced a strong start, going 7.1 innings with four runners and six hits. Sauer allowed only two runs through seven before Liberty squeezed two more in the eighth.
Six different Blue Hose combined for PC's six hits. Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) hit a double and Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) extended his reached base streak to 13 games, tying Peter Johnson (Seattle, Wash.) for the team's longest of the season.
A Will Shepherd triple put Liberty ahead 1-0 in the third. Four innings later, Becker Sankey hit a solo home run for a 2-0 lead. Shepherd struck again in the eighth before Alex Close tacked on the final run via RBI double, 4-0.
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Presbyterian College 000 000 001 - 1 6 1 (16-11, 1-4 BSC)
Liberty............. 001 000 12X - 4 7 0 (16-10, 3-2 BSC)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian College - SAUER, David; WORTKOETTER, Ethan(8); DEAL, Hayden(8) and
KOSKI, Rob. Liberty - LYONS, J. and SANKEY, B..
Win-LYONS, J.(4-0) Loss-SAUER, David(3-2) T-2:11 A-1169
HR LIBERTY - SANKEY, B. (6).
Weather: Clear, 38, wind N@7 mph
WORTKOETTER faced 1 batter in the 8th.
