[BJWilliams]

Good news is we arent schlepping out west for a regional...at least so far

[thesportscritic]

Arkansas it is in the Charlottesville regional

[JakeP50]

Not an easy draw by any stretch of the imagination. Doesn't seem as hard as last year's draw

[flowserve]

Congratulations to the team, GREAT news. They left Liberty to the end so I was loosing hope but I am excited now.

[JK37]

Six Pounder, I'm happy I was wrong. I don't know who you are, nor do you know me. I wasn't being negative; I was realistic that it wasn't a sure thing. I'm THRILLED for Liberty Baseball!

Oh, and I don't care who you are - even if you're JB or Toman himself - Guarantee I have as much or greater a handle on the "big picture" as you do. I'll just leave it at that.

Carry on.

[SuperJon]

I've been reading this board for the last 2 1/2 years and it honestly amazes me how negative some of you guys are capable of being. I often find myself wondering how much college baseball some of you really keep up with. This team is 41-16, ran through the Big South at a ridiculous clip, has a chance to get the 1st baseball AT LARGE BID IN SCHOOL HISTORY in a couple of hours, has a chance to go to back-to-back regionals for the 1st time in school history, has a chance to have as many as 4 Juniors drafted (5 if you include Herndon) which shows the level of talent continues to increase, has a great young nucleus, has set school records 3 times this year for attendance, and has brought true national attention to Liberty from ALL of the national writers and national college baseball organizations this year. This program does not have a long, rich history of post-season play. I would think that rather than use words like "travesty" when describing this group of kids play, you could see the bigger picture. Although this is a lightly traveled message board compared to other top 40 programs for sure, I hope recruits parents don't read or put any stock in some of your posts, to get a sense of the support level of the program.

All of these things are true. And, in the small picture, they're amazing. In the big picture, we had the opportunity to win the conference tournament and host as a 2-seed. Instead, once we were in, we went on auto-pilot and coasted to a 5-5 finish and a 3-seed at a national seed. While where we are is awesome and I'm thrilled we're in a regional again, it's hard not to be disappointed given where we could be.

[ProudFlame]

Perfect post Six Pounders! In addition to the negativity and sometimes silly banter, occasionally unnecessary remarks are made about specific players (although they are quickly edited!). Yep...I'm a PROUD LU baseball parent. I often wonder how many posters here have played or coached baseball at this level, or been the parent of someone that has?...whatever happened to just supporting your team? This season has been something special and these are amazing young men. Go Flames! Beat Arkansas!

[BJWilliams]

We certainly could be higher Jon...but this is still progress. would I have liked to see more progress? sure, as much as you and every other rider on the Flame Train...but we are seeing improvement and that is a good thing in the big picture. we have a chance to build on things again next year, and the year after that and the year after that. There are a few things that need to be worked on but at the very least, we have made another step in the right direction

[Six Pounders]

Very fair. Although imho, unless we were a 1 seed and hosting, we were gonna be shipped to Charlottesville no matter what. That being said, I think it's important to remember that this program is building and still shooting for lots of firsts. Most programs, don't jump from never having gotten an at-large bid and only 4 overall tournament appearances, to a #1 seed and host. It just isn't the natural order of things in college baseball. No doubt, this team is not playing the same as it was in the middle of the season. And they certainly coulda finished stronger. There is almost no one in that starting lineup who is not dinged up or battling something (as almost every team still playing is), but perhaps a bigger factor is still learning how to be the HUNTED. I am hopeful that this team will put the chip back on the shoulder and play like the HUNTER this weekend. I was at the tournament, and I can tell you those kids were hurting after losing that game Saturday. Hurting bad. As were all us fans, haha. There was no lack of effort or caring. Arkansas and UVA can make you look really bad with their pitching. We will need to really battle on every pitch. This is a tough group of kids and I'm hoping they can play their best baseball this weekend. There is a great video just posted on LU site showing the team reaction to hearing their name called. They were pumped!

[JakeP50]

With SEC and ACC competition in this regional I really think they can turn back into the Hunters they were so good at being for most of the season.

[Chippy]

Excited for LU baseball. I think we have staked a claim for national recognition due to the season we put together.

It seems things started to get tougher around the time Herndon went on the shelf. One trend we have to reverse immediately is this: in the last 8 games (3-5) we drew 15 walks and our pitchers walked 41. That's not going to win too many games. Arkansas has great pitching depth and quality arms. We'll be challenged big time.

Go Flames Train Can't wait to see them on ESPNU Friday and in person on Saturday.

[krh44]

I am very excited we are staying close. Yes, I would rather be hosting and in Lynchburg but that didn't happen. Still an at large bid is very impressive. We have to turn around how we have been playing the last weeks. Someone mentioned the walk issue, we had some guys that were struggling at the plate, and it seemed like we dug ourselves into holes in a lot of the games. Can't wait for Friday!

[ballcoach15]

I believe our struggles at the plate hurt more than the walks, but we are still issuing too many free passes. For the most part our pitching has remained good enough to win. Need to score enough runs to where a couple ill advised walks doesn't change outcome.

[UVALibertyFan]

I am excited and nervous about this regional. I pull for Liberty except when they play UVA so I will not be a Liberty fan this weekend. I have bought the ticket book for the whole regional but probably only going to the UVA games so if anyone needs a ticket to a Liberty game where UVA is not playing, such as Friday night, let me know and maybe we can work something out.

[Cider Jim]

Wow, just think--the LU baseball team got an at-large regional pick before our LU football team got an automatic bid or an at-large pick for the FCS playoffs!

[ballcoach15]

Big step for program with this bid. I got ticket for every game .

[Gohogs14]

Looking forward to Friday guys. Should be a great pitching matchup

[jcmanson]

Looking forward to Friday guys. Should be a great pitching matchup

Glad you could join us, we've had several Razorback fans register in the last 24 hours.

[ballcoach15]

Does anyone know who Arkansas is starting on the mound Friday ?

[Chris Lang]

Trey Killian has been their Friday starter all year. Doubt that changes this week. Bad record, good numbers. They just don't hit for him.

[BJWilliams]

Killian vs. Lambert should be a very good matchup.

[alabama24]

if anyone needs a ticket to a Liberty game where UVA is not playing, such as Friday night, let me know and maybe we can work something out.

I am interested in Friday's ticket. I sent you a Private Message. Know anyone who might have another?

[Rooster Cogburn]

Call me the eternal optimist or whatever, but I think this team still has life and CAN make a run at this regional.

2 losses to Radford + Gut wrenching loss to Winthrop + last team announced + urgency of the last gasp they have left as a team + little to no travel + confidence of 2 Clemson wins in SC last year + a short rest + hopefully Lyons back = a possible run.

I think these boys will step up and play like we know they can.

We shall see.

[JakeP50]

I was thinking the same thing. I just hope my eternal optimism finally pays off and we can win at least ONE game at regionals.

[ballcoach15]

Good post Rooster. I like our chances to win the Regional. Virginia isn't playing all that great right now. Now granted, they could catch fire again in tournament, but LU can also. I will not leave Charlottesville totally happy with anything less than a LU Regional Championship.
I watched UVA play Maryland last Thursday in Greensboro. Was not too impressed.