LYNCHBURG, Va. – Jacksonville University baseball pushed Liberty to the brink on the road, before falling 7-5 on Friday afternoon at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
 
The Dolphins (23-20, 9-13) loaded the bases in the eighth and ninth innings, but could never take the lead in the series opener.
 
Liberty got on the board early with a big second inning. The leadoff man was hit by a pitch, and with one out, the Flames ripped the first of three straight doubles, which scored three runs. After a single to third put runners at the corners, Mason Adams got his first strikeout of the day. An RBI single to center plated a fourth run of the inning, before Adams got another strikeout to end the inning, with LU up 4-0.
 
JU got a quick one back in the top of the third. Elias Flowers ripped a single to right, the first hit of the day for the Dolphins. Chase Malloy followed that with a double to left, putting runners at second and third. Cam Ridley grounded out to short, which plated Flowers to cut the Liberty lead to 4-1.
 
A leadoff double in the bottom of the third, followed by a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single to right got the run right back for Liberty, leading 5-1 after three.
 
Blake DeLamielleure led off the fourth with a solo home run to left center. A one-out walk by Jesus Pacheco and a stolen base, followed by a Jake Berg single put runners at the corners. Jackson Grabsky flew out to left, and Pacheco was thrown out at the plate to end the inning with JU within three again, 5-2.
 
Adams settled down, working around a pair of walks in the fourth to keep the Flames off the board and allowed only a two-out single in a scoreless fifth.
 
JU started sixth with a leadoff single by DeLamielleure. Tommy Joseph hit a sharp shot to first that was knocked down by the first baseman. He picked it up and turned to throw it to first, but no one was covering. The error led to DeLamielleure scoring and Joseph taking second. Liberty got out of the rest of the inning unscathed, but the Dolphins moved within two, 5-3.
 
Liberty responded again. A one-out triple to left center came in to score on a wild pitch and the Flames were back up by three, 6-3.
 
The seventh inning played out like a mirror image. Flowers drew a leadoff walk and Malloy was hit by pitch to put two on ahead of Ridley, who sacrificed them over, but a pair of strikeouts kept the Dolphins off the board. In the bottom half, the first two Flames reached on a walk and a hit batsman as well, before Luke Baker got a strikeout, then a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning.
 
Joseph led off the eighth, and grounded one to the right side. Again, a Liberty fielder was unable to successfully field it, with the pitcher this time punching it into foul territory and allowing Joseph to reach. Pacheco singled and Clayton Hodges came in as a pinch-runner for Joseph. Berg singled on the first pitch to left field and Hodges scored. With one out, Flowers walked to load the bases, and Liberty made a pitching change. The first pitch Malloy saw from the reliever he poked into center to score Pacheco. After a strikeout, Liberty brought in its closer to face Christian Coipel with two outs. He drilled a liner to right, but a diving catch ended the inning a stranded the bases loaded, with JU still trailing 6-5.
 
After a leadoff homer in the bottom of the eighth pushed the lead to 7-5, Josh Steidl drew a pinch-hit walk with one out to start the rally in the ninth. Alex Imposimato pinch-ran for him, and advanced to second on Jonah Diaz's pinch-hit groundout to third. Berg slashed a single to right, advancing Imposimato to third. Grabsky then walked to load the bases, but Flowers grounded out to second to end the game.
 
ON DECK
 
Jacksonville looks to even the series with Liberty tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
 
THREE STRIKES
 

• Jacksonville left 13 men on base in the game
• Chase Malloy's seventh-inning HBP moved him into a tie with Zach Osbeck (1996) for the most times being hit by a pitch in a single-season in JU history with 16
• Blake DeLamielleure hit his fourth home run of the season in the fourth