Lady Flames Blank UMass Lowell, 2-0
2/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Liberty redshirt junior Chandler Ball pitched her second shutout in three days, and Jamie Crisp hit a two-run homer, as the Lady Flames blanked UMass Lowell, 2-0, on Sunday to close out play at the Dot Richardson Invitational.
The Lady Flames improve to 4-5 on the campaign, after going 3-2 this weekend, including shutouts over Cleveland State and UMass Lowell and a 5-2 win over Arkansas. The River Hawks fall to 4-6, including a 2-4 ledger at the Dot Richardson Invitational.
Sunday's game featured a pair of former Olympic teammates as opposing head coaches. Liberty head coach Dot Richardson and UMass Lowell head coach Danielle Henderson were both members of Team USA, winning the 2000 Olympic Gold medal.
Ball (3-2) tossed her second shutout of the season and third of her career, allowing just four hits while striking out four.
UML's Marielle Handley (2-3) suffered the loss, yielding two runs on five hits while fanning six Lady Flames.
Liberty senior Jamie Crisp batted 1-for-2, hitting a two-run home run. Junior Mickey Loveridge doubled, while senior Megan Robinson, junior Katie Han and freshman Alexia Taylor checked in with one hit apiece.
Four different River Hawks recorded base hits, with junior Emilia Davies hitting a double.
Ball worked through trouble in the second inning, as junior Alyssa Zinkiewicz reached on an error and a Davies double put runners on second and third with nobody out. The next three River Hawks recorded outs, and Ball struck out senior Ariana Darcy to keep the game scoreless.
Taylor led off the bottom of the second by singling to right. Junior Kassidy McCoy sacrificed her to second, but Taylor was thrown out between second and third on the play. Han then flied to left for the final out.
Ball retired 11 batters in a row, spanning the second through fifth innings, before Darcy hit a two-out single in the top of the fifth. Senior Ally Greene flied out to left and the teams remained tied at 0-0.
Handley also settled in, sitting down 10 straight Lady Flames before an infield single by Han with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Crisp came through with a two-run home run, giving Liberty a 2-0 advantage.
UMass Lowell loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, on two singles and an error. Ball kept the River Hawks off the board, striking out Davies and getting sophomore Alisha Welch to fly to center.
Robinson singled during the Lady Flames' sixth time at bat, and Loveridge hit a two-out double to put runners on second and third. Taylor grounded the second, bringing the River Hawks to the plate for the final time.
Liberty put the finishing touches on its shutout victory, as Ball fanned two batters during a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
The Lady Flames remain in Florida for an additional week, and will next compete in the Aquafina Invitational, hosted by Florida from Friday through Saturday. Liberty meets Illinois State at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, before taking on the host and defending national champion, No. 1 Florida Gators at 6:15 p.m.
