Liberty Sweeps Doubleheader with 7-0 Win over Winthrop
3/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Liberty shut out Winthrop, 7-0, behind a four-hit pitching performance from Julia DiMartino, during game two on Friday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium
The Lady Flames (13-13, 2-0) opened their Big South schedule with a doubleheader sweep for the second year in a row. Liberty beat Winthrop, 11-4, in the opener this afternoon. Winthrop (10-19, 0-2) has dropped seven straight games.
DiMartino (4-5) tossed her second career shutout, allowing four hits while striking out four batters. Her shutout was the fifth by the Lady Flames so far this season.
Winthrop's Kiley Majette (5-7) gave up seven runs on 10 hits, walking two and striking out three in the complete-game loss.
Madison Kotchey went 2-for-3 with a double, homer, two runs scored and two RBI. Sarah Robertson and Tori Zavodny both batted 2-for-3. Zavodny doubled, hit a home run and drove in two runs, while Jaclyn Amader went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.
Zharne Glover batted 2-for-3 for the Eagles, while Leah Young and Toni Pancione had one hit apiece.
Liberty manufactured a first-inning tally. Amader led off with a bunt base hit, and Loveridge sent her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Taylor then singled to center, scoring Amader for a 1-0 lead.
DiMartino pitched a 1-2-3 second inning, and also retired the side in order during the third and fourth frames. She set down 10 straight batters at one point, spanning the second through fifth innings.
Zavodny led off the second with a double inside the left-field line. With two outs, Cassie Gingerich bounced an RBI single up the middle to double Liberty's advantage to two.
Liberty tallied one run for the third inning in a row, this time with a two-out rally. Kotchey doubled, before scoring on a single to left center by Robertson. Zavodny lined out to short for the third out.
Winthrop got its best scoring chance in the fifth inning, when Glover and Pancione hit back-to-back one-out singles. However, DiMartino kept the Eagles off the board with a lineout and a flyout.
The hosts put the game out of reach with a pair of two-out, two-run homers in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kotchey blasted a two-run home run off the scoreboard in center field. Zavodny later roped a two-run homer onto the grass seating area beyond the right-field fence for the final runs in the 7-0 win.
DiMartino kept the Eagles at bay for the rest of the game, sealing the four-hitter and doubleheader sweep for the Lady Flames.
The Lady Flames and Eagles wrap up this weekend's series with a single game, tomorrow at 10 a.m. at Liberty Softball Stadium.
