Flames claim second

Steven Evans loves the rush of pitching in tight games, so he wasn’t exactly nervous Saturday when he was summoned from the Liberty bullpen in the seventh inning.

High Point had runners at first and second with one out, and the Flames were nursing a one-run lead. Something very tangible — second place in the Big South standings — was on the line.

Evans was no stranger to pressure last year at Amherst High School. Anytime the Lancers needed a quality start, they turned to Evans. Now Liberty, in need of a closer, had done the same.

Like he has done in the last month, Evans used a filthy slider to shut down the opposition. He quickly worked out of the seventh-inning jam and threw two more scoreless innings to help Liberty escape with a 5-4 victory at Worthington Stadium.

LU (31-23-1, 14-6 Big South) remained unbeaten in its last 10 games and clinched second place in the league standings, meaning it will face the winner of one of Tuesday’s conference tournament play-in games.

The Flames will record their highest Big South finish since 2000 and, with a win today, would tie a school record for conference victories (15) set in 1995.

This all seemed fairly implausible during an ugly stretch from March 14-April 4 in which Liberty lost 12 of 15 games.

“You couldn’t ask for a better story,” Liberty right fielder P.K. Keller said. “We were focused enough not to lose heart. We were just waiting for stuff to click, and stuff has finally clicked, and at a great time, too.”

Liberty coach Jim Toman was able to easily pinpoint the moment Evans went from boy to man, in a baseball sense at least — an April 15 game at William & Mary.

Facing a team that ranks in the top 15 in Division I in seven different offensive statistical categories, Evans pitched the finest game of his short Liberty career.

He struck out 10 Tribe batters, walked none and held William & Mary to two earned runs on six hits in 7 2/3 innings. That victory was a catalyst for Evans, who has since been named Liberty’s closer.

From April 15 on, Evans is 1-1 with two saves and a 2.14 ERA. He’s allowed 16 hits and five earned runs in 21 innings. During the run, Evans has struck out 23 and walked four.

“The coaches are demanding the best from Steven, and he’s just put his hat down and gone to work,” Keller said. “He’s no longer a freshman.”

Closing seems to suit Evans, who has had great command of his fastball and slider in the second half of the season.

High Point’s Pablo Rosario slammed Evans’ first pitch to right-center field. Keller called off center fielder Tim Rotola, but the ball began to hang up in the air. Keller sprinted hard, dove with full extension, caught the ball and tumbled in the grass.

“I hit the ground and stuck,” Keller said. “I rolled over just saying, ‘please stay in, please stay in (the glove).’”

The left-handed Evans then punched out Randy Schwartz on four pitches, all biting sliders that snuck in the backdoor on the right-handed Schwartz.

“I’ve been working on that backdoor pitch, and I’ve been throwing it a lot more lately,” Evans said.

“I’ve been able to hit the spot with it. It seems to be working. If they’re going to take it, I’ll throw it.”

Evans retired the next six batters for his third save.

With the score knotted at 3, Liberty’s Garrett Young led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run, his fifth of the year, to right field. Aaron Grijalva singled and Kenneth Negron drove him in with a two-out RBI single that put Liberty up 5-3.

High Point (19-32, 8-12) trimmed the lead to 5-4 on Jeff Cowan’s RBI single in the seventh, but Evans shut the door after that.

NOTES: Dustin Umberger will start today’s finale but will be on a limited pitch count. … Toman said David Stokes will start Wednesday’s Big South tournament opener, and Ryan Page, who pitched five innings Saturday, will start Liberty’s second game. … LU will play at 3 p.m. Wednesday against High Point, Radford or Charleston Southern.