LYNCHBURG, Va. – A back-and-forth game early on, Liberty broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth and held Virginia Tech baseball scoreless over the final five innings to register a 4-3 victory in nonconference action at Liberty Baseball Stadium Tuesday night.
With the loss, the Hokies drop their first one-run decision this season, as they entered the night 4-0 in such games, while Liberty improved to 8-0 at home in 2019.
Kerry Carpenter gave Tech a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first when he hit a solo home run over the right-center field fence. The long ball was the junior's team-leading fifth of the season.
Liberty (9-3) used a pair of walks and a two-out RBI single by Cam Locklear to tie the game in the home half of the frame then took a 2-1 lead in the third on a bases-loaded RBI single by Gray Betts.
The Hokies climbed back on top with two runs in the fourth with Carpenter crossing the plate on a wild pitch and Carson Taylor, who doubled for the fifth time this season, scoring on sacrifice fly off the bat of Luke Horanski.
However, the Flames tied the game back up in the fourth and reclaimed the lead for good in the sixth. Brandon Rohrer plated Will Wagner with a single for the third Liberty run and pinch hitter Trey McDyre hit leadoff solo home run to break the tie.
Connor Yoder, who pitched an inning and struck out two, and Jack Dellinger, who went two frames and struck out three, kept the Flames off the scoreboard over the final three innings, but Tech was held in check managing just one hit off Liberty closer Garret Price over 2.2 innings of work.
Carpenter, Taylor and Kevin Madden each had two hits in the loss.
Up Next
The Hokies will head to Tallahassee, Florida on Thursday to open ACC play with a three-game set against the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles. The series at Dick Hawser Stadium starts on Friday at 6 p.m.