University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Baseball Season Ended by Liberty, 12-8
05.25.2007 | Baseball
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Liberty scored in seven different innings to hold off UNC Asheville, 12-8 in an elimination game at the Big South Conference Baseball Tournament Friday afternoon at the Winthrop Ballpark.
The Bulldogs end their season with a 22-38 record, while Liberty improves to 35-24 and will play later tonight at 8 p.m. against the loser of the Coastal Carolina-Winthrop game that will be played at 3 p.m.
Asheville had 15 hits in the game but made five errors that cost the Bulldogs three unearned runs. Rob Vernon paced Asheville at the plate with three hits and three RBI. He connected for his eighth homer of the season. Freshman Justin Schumer went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs score. David Williams, Kevin Mattison and John Whited had two hits each.
"We competed hard and battled but simply made too many mistakes to win a tournament game," commented UNC Asheville coach Willie Stewart. "You can't make five errors and beat a good time like Liberty.
"I'm proud of our guys though as they fought right to the final out," added Stewart.
The Bulldogs trailed 4-0 after two innings but exploded for five runs in the third inning to take a brief 5-4 lead. Mattison and Schumer had RBI-singles to cut the lead to 4-2. Vernon's run-scoring single cut the lead to 4-3. Williams' two-run double gave Asheville the lead.
However, Liberty came right back in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good with three runs. P.K. Keller's two-run homer put the Flames on top, 7-5.
The Bulldogs held Liberty scoreless in the fourth inning, the only time Asheville was able to do that to keep the game at 7-5. Schumer's solo homer lead off the fifth carved the lead to 7-6.
The Flames put the game away with one run in the fifth and sixth innings to push the lead to 9-6. Two more LU runs in the seventh padded the margin to 11-6, while another run in the eighth made it 12-6.
Asheville tried to make it interesting in the ninth. Schumer led off with a single and Vernon homered to left-center cutting the lead to 12-8. After a strikeout, a single by Elliott Arrington and a walk to Matt Henson put runners on first and second. But reliever Tyler Light was able to get the next two outs to earn the save and keep Liberty alive in the tournament.
Vernon finished a spectacular season by setting three single-season records. He finished the year with a record-setting .394 average, 97 hits and 153 total bases.
