Saturday, February 20
Spartanburg, S.C.
5:00 PM
Liberty University
2-1
12
at
2
USC Upstate
3-2
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Liberty
1
5
3
0
3
12
10
0
USC Upstate
0
0
1
1
0
2
5
0
Offense Ignites as Lady Flames Beat Spartans
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The Liberty offense found a groove Saturday night, and the Lady Flames defeated the host USC Upstate Spartans, 12-2, in five innings, in the final round-robin game at the Spartan Classic in Spartanburg, S.C.
Danielle Howard recorded her first hit of the tournament in a big way, knocking a solo home run over the center field fence to give Liberty an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Liberty starting pitcher Tiffani Smith got into a jam in the bottom of the first, as leadoff batter Kim Brasil doubled to left center, and Crislyn Chewning reached when she was hit by a pitch. But Smith turned up the heat, striking out the next two batters to retire the side, and Liberty maintained its 1-0 lead.
The Lady Flames padded their lead in the top of the second, scoring five runs on four hits to move to a 6-0 advantage. Kaylee West led off with a single to right field, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ashley Bensinger then drew a walk, followed by a bunt single by designated hitter Meredith Baisden that loaded the bases with no outs.
Amber DePasquale then smacked a single through the left side, bringing in West. Cassie Hendrix reached on a fielder's choice with a grounder to third, but Bensinger was thrown out on the play.
Jenny Law then flew out to left for the second out, bringing up Howard with the bases loaded.
In a similar fashion to her first at-bat, Howard stepped into the batter's box to send a bomb over the center field fence for her first career grand slam, giving Liberty the 6-0 lead.
Liberty's offense stayed hot in the third inning, as DePasquale homered to left field to bring in three more runs, pushing the score to 9-0 in Liberty's favor.
The Spartans put a run on the board in the bottom of the third when Janna Lewis led off with a solo shot to left field. Right fielder Jenny Law made a diving catch on the next play, keeping Brasil from getting on base. Chewning popped up to shortstop and Ericka Harris popped up to third, ending the inning with a 9-1 score.
USC Upstate brought it to 9-2 score when Cheyanna Ohlrich drove in a run with a deep sacrifice fly to left.
Liberty's bats stayed on fire in the top of the fifth, as the Lady Flames added three more runs to put the game out of reach.
West led off with a big hit, a single that sailed over center-fielder Chewning. Bensinger drew another walk, advancing pinch runner Jill Stephens to second.
Next, pinch hitter Bridgett Woods experienced an at-bat full of firsts. Not only did she record her first career hit, but it marked her first career double and RBI as well.
DePasquale followed up with a deep sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Bensinger. Pinch hitter Jenna Eatmon continued the scoring streak, ripping a double to right field, scoring Woods to make the score 12-2 going into the bottom of the fifth.
The Spartans couldn't manage a run in the bottom of the fifth, giving Liberty a 12-2 victory after five complete innings.
Howard batted 2-for-3 for the Lady Flames, driving in five RBIs with two home runs, while DePasquale was 2-for-2 with five RBIs. Also, West batted 3-for-3 and scored a run.
Ohlrich spotlighted the brief offensive highlights for the home squad, as she was 1-for-1 for the Spartans and drove in one run.
Tiffani Smith (1-1) picked up her first win of 2010, giving up five hits and striking out four. Hamilton (0-1) picked up the loss, giving up two hits.
At the end of round-robin play, three teams finished with a 2-1 record in the tournament: Liberty, USC Upstate and UMBC.
Since the next tier tiebreaker was runs allowed, the Lady Flames will now find themselves in tomorrow's consolation game against Eastern Kentucky on Sunday. In their first three games, the Lady Flames have given up 18 runs, compared to 14 for USC Upstate and six for UMBC. That leaves Liberty as the No. 3 seed, with home team advantage for tomorrow's consolation matchup. The game against the No. 4 Colonels is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
Danielle Howard recorded her first hit of the tournament in a big way, knocking a solo home run over the center field fence to give Liberty an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Liberty starting pitcher Tiffani Smith got into a jam in the bottom of the first, as leadoff batter Kim Brasil doubled to left center, and Crislyn Chewning reached when she was hit by a pitch. But Smith turned up the heat, striking out the next two batters to retire the side, and Liberty maintained its 1-0 lead.
The Lady Flames padded their lead in the top of the second, scoring five runs on four hits to move to a 6-0 advantage. Kaylee West led off with a single to right field, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ashley Bensinger then drew a walk, followed by a bunt single by designated hitter Meredith Baisden that loaded the bases with no outs.
Amber DePasquale then smacked a single through the left side, bringing in West. Cassie Hendrix reached on a fielder's choice with a grounder to third, but Bensinger was thrown out on the play.
Jenny Law then flew out to left for the second out, bringing up Howard with the bases loaded.
In a similar fashion to her first at-bat, Howard stepped into the batter's box to send a bomb over the center field fence for her first career grand slam, giving Liberty the 6-0 lead.
Liberty's offense stayed hot in the third inning, as DePasquale homered to left field to bring in three more runs, pushing the score to 9-0 in Liberty's favor.
The Spartans put a run on the board in the bottom of the third when Janna Lewis led off with a solo shot to left field. Right fielder Jenny Law made a diving catch on the next play, keeping Brasil from getting on base. Chewning popped up to shortstop and Ericka Harris popped up to third, ending the inning with a 9-1 score.
USC Upstate brought it to 9-2 score when Cheyanna Ohlrich drove in a run with a deep sacrifice fly to left.
Liberty's bats stayed on fire in the top of the fifth, as the Lady Flames added three more runs to put the game out of reach.
West led off with a big hit, a single that sailed over center-fielder Chewning. Bensinger drew another walk, advancing pinch runner Jill Stephens to second.
Next, pinch hitter Bridgett Woods experienced an at-bat full of firsts. Not only did she record her first career hit, but it marked her first career double and RBI as well.
DePasquale followed up with a deep sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Bensinger. Pinch hitter Jenna Eatmon continued the scoring streak, ripping a double to right field, scoring Woods to make the score 12-2 going into the bottom of the fifth.
The Spartans couldn't manage a run in the bottom of the fifth, giving Liberty a 12-2 victory after five complete innings.
Howard batted 2-for-3 for the Lady Flames, driving in five RBIs with two home runs, while DePasquale was 2-for-2 with five RBIs. Also, West batted 3-for-3 and scored a run.
Ohlrich spotlighted the brief offensive highlights for the home squad, as she was 1-for-1 for the Spartans and drove in one run.
Tiffani Smith (1-1) picked up her first win of 2010, giving up five hits and striking out four. Hamilton (0-1) picked up the loss, giving up two hits.
At the end of round-robin play, three teams finished with a 2-1 record in the tournament: Liberty, USC Upstate and UMBC.
Since the next tier tiebreaker was runs allowed, the Lady Flames will now find themselves in tomorrow's consolation game against Eastern Kentucky on Sunday. In their first three games, the Lady Flames have given up 18 runs, compared to 14 for USC Upstate and six for UMBC. That leaves Liberty as the No. 3 seed, with home team advantage for tomorrow's consolation matchup. The game against the No. 4 Colonels is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Tiffani (1-1)
L: HAMILTON, Amber (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Woods, Bridgett 1 ; Eatmon, Jenna 1
HR: Howard, Danielle 2 ; DePasquale, Amber 1
RBI: Howard, Danielle 5 ; Woods, Bridgett 1 ; DePasquale, Amber 5 ; Eatmon, Jenna 1
SF: DePasquale, Amber 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Howard, Danielle 2 ; West, Kaylee 1 ; Stephens, Jill 1 ; Bensinger, Ashley 2 ; Baisden, Meredith 2 ; Woods, Bridgett 1 ; DePasquale, Amber 2 ; Hendrix, Cassie 1
HBP: Howard, Danielle 1
Batting:
2B: BRASIL, Kim 1 ; QUEVEDO, Lauren 1 ; OHLRICH, Cheyanna 1
HR: LEWIS, Janna 1
RBI: OHLRICH, Cheyanna 1 ; LEWIS, Janna 1
SF: OHLRICH, Cheyanna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ZAUNER, Katie 1 ; LEWIS, Janna 1
HBP: CHEWNING, Crislyn 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
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