2026 Liberty Flames baseball team

2026 Liberty Flames baseball
ConferenceConference USA
Record43–21 (21–9 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coachAndrew Cox (2nd season)
Hitting coachMatt Williams (3rd season)
Pitching coachKeller Bradford (1st season)
Home stadiumLiberty Baseball Stadium
2026 Conference USA baseball standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Jacksonville State ‍†‍‡‍y 23–7 .76742–13 .764
Liberty ‍‍‍y 21–9 .70038–18 .679
Missouri State ‍‍‍y 20–10 .66732–18 .640
Dallas Baptist  ‍‍‍ 19–11 .63331–24 .564
Louisiana Tech  ‍‍‍ 19–11 .63333–23 .589
Western Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 14–16 .46729–26 .527
Kennesaw State  ‍‍‍ 13–17 .43325–26 .490
Sam Houston  ‍‍‍ 13–17 .43324–32 .429
Middle Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 12–18 .40026–29 .473
FIU  ‍‍‍ 10–20 .33319–35 .352
New Mexico State  ‍‍‍ 9–21 .30018–34 .346
Delaware  ‍‍‍ 7–23 .23319–35 .352
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament
As of May 17, 2026[1]
Rankings from D1Baseball

The 2026 Liberty Flames baseball team represented Liberty University during the 2026 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Flames played their home games at Liberty Baseball Stadium as members of Conference USA They were led by second-year head coach Bradley LeCroy.

Previous season

The Flames are coming off a 30–27 (10–17) season. The Flames went 0–2 as the eight seed in the 2025 Conference USA baseball tournament.

Preseason

Coaches poll

The coaches poll was released on January 29, 2026. Liberty was selected to finish seventh in the conference.[2]

Coaches' Poll
Predicted
finish
Team Points
1Dallas Baptist144 (9)
2Louisiana Tech111 (1)
3Kennesaw State108
4Jacksonville State102 (1)
5Western Kentucky97
6Missouri State90
7Liberty85
8FIU56
9New Mexico State45 (1)
10Middle Tennessee38
11Delaware37
12Sam Houston26

Awards and honors

Preseason CUSA awards and honors

Preseason All-CUSA Team
Player No. Position Class Designation
Tanner Marsh00INFYrFirst Team[2]

Personnel

Starters

Lineup
Pos.No.Player.Year
C20Lance TrippelSenior
1B9Eli ThomasFreshman
2B3Bradke LohrySenior
3B10Jack LutzFreshman
SS1Jevin RelafordSenior
LF18Jake KulikowskiJunior
CF27Ryan PruittSenior
RF6Jacob GreenSenior
DH26Nathan EarleySenior
Weekend pitching rotation
DayNo.Player.Year
Friday19Michael SenayFreshman
Saturday44Edwin AliceaJunior
Sunday32Landen YorekSenior

Schedule

2026 Liberty Flames baseball game log (43–21)
Regular season (38–18)
Postseason (5–3)
Legend:   = Win   = Loss   = Canceled
Bold = Liberty team member
Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll or NCAA tournament seeding for postseason play.[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
Coaches'[4]——*————————RV—RV————*
Baseball America[5]—————————2525—————*—*
NCBWA†[6]——————————RVRVRVRVRVRV*RV
D1Baseball[7]—————————————————*
Perfect Game[8]———————————2525———*—*

† NCBWA ranks 30 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 25 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

References

  1. ↑ "2026 Baseball Standings". conferenceusa.com. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "BSB: CUSA Announces 2026 Preseason Poll and Awards". conferenceusa.com. January 29, 2026. Retrieved April 14, 2026.
  3. ↑ "2025-26 Baseball Schedule". libertyflames.com. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
  4. ↑ "NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports". USA TODAY.
  5. ↑ "College Baseball Top 25 Rankings". www.baseballamerica.com.
  6. ↑ "NCBWA > News > Top 30 Poll". www.sportswriters.net.
  7. ↑ "Rankings Archives • D1Baseball". d1baseball.com.
  8. ↑ Perfect Game Top 25 Rankings