The No. 1 seed Lipscomb Bisons topped the No. 3 seed Liberty Flames 7-3 in the semifinals of the 2023 ASUN Baseball Championship, Saturday afternoon at Melching Field at Conrad Park.

Lipscomb struck for five runs in the first inning to take an early lead, only to see the Flames close to within two runs behind a solid outing by reliever Graham Edwards. The Bisons then added insurance in the late innings to eliminate the Liberty from the 2023 ASUN Championship.

Catcher Austin Kelley hit a grand slam to cap the top seed’s five-run first and center fielder Alex Vergara hit a solo home run for Lipscomb.

Liberty reliever Edwards entered the game in the first inning and went on to hold the Bisons scoreless over 4 1/3 innings, helping the Flames to cut into their deficit. He struck out three and walked one.

Center fielder Kane Kepley had two hits in the game and drove in two runs with a triple for the Flames. Shortstop Cam Foster also collected two hits in the contest for Liberty

Liberty’s season comes to an end with a 27-31 mark. Lipscomb advances to tomorrow’s ASUN Championship title game against No. 2 seed FGCU and ups its record to 35-24 on the season.

Box Score Highlights
Records: Liberty (27-31); Lipscomb (35-24)
Location: DeLand, Fla. (Melching Field at Conrad Stadium)
WP: Braydon Tucker (7-0) | LP: Garrett Horn (5-5) | SV: Matthew Bohnert (3)

Scoring Summary
1^st INNING – LIP – Ketchup scores on a wild pitch, 1-0
1^st INNING – LIP – Kelly homers, Willhoite, Lundgrin and Vergara score, 5-0
4^th INNING – LIBERTY – Foster grounds out, Horton scores, 5-1
5^th INNING – LIBERTY – Kepley triples, Simmons and Hudson score, 5-3
6^th INNING – LIP – Lee flies out, Bouck scores, 6-3
7^th INNING – LIP – Vergara homers, 7-3

Notable Numbers
– Each team had seven hits in the game. Liberty committed the game’s lone error.
– Liberty left four men on base. Lipscomb left five men on.
– Flames starting pitcher Garrett Horn takes the loss. The left-hander did not get out of the first inning. He gave up five runs on two hits. He struck out one and walked five in 2/3 of an inning.
– Mikey Tepper pitched the final three innings for Liberty. He gave up two runs on three hits. He struck out two and walked two.
– Lipscomb starting pitcher Braydon Tucker records the win. He allowed three runs on five hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked one.
– Reliever Matthew Bohnert pitched four scoreless innings to earn a save for the Bisons. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.
– Lipscomb third baseman Trace Willhoite had two hits and scored a run in the game.

Beyond the Box Score
– With the loss, Liberty ends its time in the ASUN Conference. The Flames will move to Conference USA next season.
– With two hits, Kepley finishes the year reaching base in the final 18 contests. The freshman recorded his 12^th multi-hit game of the year.
– Foster collected his 13^th multi-hit game of the year in the contest.
– Senior second baseman Gray Betts concludes his Liberty career. Betts played in 241 games during his time in a Flames uniform. He finishes tied for second all-time on the program’s hit with Larry Wayne York (2000-03) with 262 career hits. Betts also completes his career tied for second with D.J. Artis (2016-18) on Liberty’s all-time runs scored list with 173.

Featured in Main Photo: Graham Edwards