Liberty Softball Heads to South Carolina for Series at Presbyterian
4/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Game Notes
Liberty (19-18, 6-3 Big South) finishes out a six-game road trip this weekend, traveling to Clinton, S.C., for a three-game set at Presbyterian (20-16, 6-4). The Lady Flames and Blue Hose will contest a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. before playing a single game, Sunday. Liberty and Presbyterian enter the series ranked second and third, respectively, in the Big South standings.
The Lady Flames took one out of three games at Longwood in a hard-fought battle for first place in the league earlier this week. Julia DiMartino held Longwood at bay in a 2-1 Liberty win in the series opener, before the Lancers rallied to win the next two, 3-1 and 6-3.
Lady Flames at a Glance
The Lady Flames lead the Big South with six shutouts this season, ranking third with an overall 3.09 team ERA. Chandler Ball (4-3, 2.76 ERA) leads the Big South with three saves, while ranking fourth in ERA. Ball has also posted a 1.31 ERA in seven Big South appearances. Julia DiMartino (7-8) is ranked sixth in the conference with a 3.03 ERA, while Chase Cassady's (7-6) 7.40 strikeouts per seven innings are ranked second.
Mickey Loveridge leads the Lady Flames with a .407 batting average, while Jaclyn Amader (.322) is tied for fourth in the Big South with 10 doubles. Alexia Taylor bats .319 with a team-leading 23 RBI, while Rylee Reynolds hits .310. Sarah Robertson (.305) is tied with Tori Zavodny (.274) for eighth in the league with 26 runs scored, while Zavodny leads with five triples.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Fans can follow all three games during this weekend's series through live stats. Live stats will appear courtesy of Presbyterian's sports information department. Additionally, Saturday's games will be available for viewing, free of charge, on the Big South Network.
Quick Hits
- Liberty finishes up a six-game road trip, and a stretch of 11 out of 13 games on the road.
- Sophomore Alexia Taylor registered her 100th career hit, Tuesday at Longwood.
- Tori Zavodny leads the Big South with five triples.
- Liberty Softball Stadium was voted second-best softball stadium by FloSoftball.com
- Deidra See hit her first two career home runs in doubleheader against Hampton.
- With 43 career wins, Chandler Ball needs one more victory to enter Liberty's top five.
- Nine different Lady Flames have posted at least one three-hit game this season.
- Liberty pitching coach Paige Cassady pitched at Presbyterian in 2007 and 2008.
- Liberty's current 12-member freshman class is the largest in program history.
- 10 different Liberty freshmen have made at least one start this year.
Liberty vs. Presbyterian (Liberty leads series, 16-9) Current Series Streak: Presbyterian W1
Last Meeting: Presbyterian 10, Liberty 2 (4/4/16 - Lynchburg, Va.)
Last Liberty Win: Liberty 5, Presbyterian 0 (4/3/16 - Lynchburg, Va. - Game 2)
Last Liberty Win at PC: Liberty 7, Presbyterian 5 (4/27/14)
Presbyterian (20-16, 6-4 Big South) enters the weekend ranked third in the Big South standings after splitting a doubleheader at Gardner-Webb, Wednesday. Megan Anderson's .382 batting average ranks third in the Big South, while she has driven in 27 runs. Kelsie Sanchez bats .345, while Hope Rogers (.291) has posted 26 RBI while sitting in a tie for third in the league with 11 home runs. Sydney Seigler is 9-7 with a 3.08 ERA, and her three shutouts this year are tied for the most in the conference.
Liberty leads the all-time series against Presbyterian, 16-9, with the Lady Flames winning seven out of the last nine meetings. The Lady Flames swept the Blue Hose in a home series in 2013, and went 2-1 versus Presbyterian in both 2014 and 2015.
Liberty vs. Presbyterian College - 2015 Recap
Last season, Liberty posted a 2-1 record against Presbyterian, April 3-4, winning the first two games before dropping the series finale.
The Lady Flames won game one, 7-3, getting home runs from Madison Kotchey and Alexia Taylor.
Kenzie Friesen then tossed a two-hitter, as Liberty shut out the Blue Hose, 5-0.
Taylor and Tori Zavodny both homered during the series finale, but PC pulled away with eight unanswered runs, winning 10-2.
For her career, Chandler Ball is 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA against Presbyterian. Kassidy McCoy has batted 8-for-18 (.444) with four RBI lifetime versus the Blue Hose.
PC Connection
Current Liberty assistant coach Paige Cassady pitched at Presbyterian College in 2007 and 2008. As a freshman in 2007, Cassady won 16 games with a 2.18 ERA and 165 strikeouts and was named to the All-SAC second team. Following the 2008 season, she transferred to FIU, where she was a team captain in 2010.
Quick Conference Report
Liberty won its first five Big South games this year, matching the 1999 and 2006 Lady Flames for the program's longest unbeaten streak to start conference play.
Chandler Ball (2-0) has posted a 1.31 ERA, one shutout, two saves and a .163 opponents' batting average in league play. Julia DiMartino is 4-1 with a 2.77 ERA and one shutout in Big South action.
Sarah Robertson bats .360, while Jaclyn Amader hits .333 with a team-high eight RBI. Madison Kotchey and Tori Zavodny have hit two homers each in conference games, while Alexia Taylor has recorded a team-best eight RBI.
Welcome Freshmen
This year, the Lady Flames have 12 freshmen on their softball roster. It marks the largest freshman class in program history. Prior to this season, the largest freshman class was in 1996, when 11 freshmen appeared on the roster.
Longwood Recap
Liberty entered a first-place battle against defending Big South champion Longwood, and took the first game, 2-1, behind a six-hitter from Julia DiMartino and an two-run single from Alexia Taylor. Longwood evened the series with a 3-1 victory in game two, Tuesday.
The Lady Flames took a 3-0 lead with a two-out rally in the third inning, getting a two-run homer from Tori Zavodny and an RBI triple from Sarah Robertson. DiMartino carried a four-hit shutout into the bottom of the seventh, before Longwood rallied to win, 6-3.
100
With her RBI single at Longwood, Tuesday, sophomore Alexia Taylor recorded her 100th career hit. She is the first Lady Flame since Ashley Williams in 2006 to reach 100 career hits as a sophomore. She is the fourth Liberty sophomore all-time to register 100 career hits, joining Williams, Cheryl Wyrick (2000-01) and Stacy Radulovich (1996-97).
Three additional players, Dawn Jeffs (2006-07), Jessica Moore (2005-06) and Shannon Tanski (1995-96), all transfers, also recorded 100 hits in their first two years at Liberty.
Lady Flames Down Virginia Tech in Marlowe's Collegiate Debut
Liberty split a doubleheader at Virginia Tech, last Wednesday. The Lady Flames won game two, 2-1, behind a three-hitter from Stephanie Marlowe. Making her collegiate pitching debut, Marlowe allowed one unearned run on three hits. She joins classmates Chase Cassady and Julia DiMartino as Liberty freshmen with pitching wins this season.
Tori Zavodny batted 3-for-3, while Alexia Taylor hit 2-for-3 with a double.
Liberty's win over Virginia Tech was its first at Tech Softball Park since May 4, 2006, and also gave the Hokies their first loss at home this season.
Back-to-Back
Deidra See batted 4-for-6 (.667) with two homers, seven RBI and four runs scored during Liberty's doubleheader split against Hampton, last Thursday. She hit her first career homer in game one, and added another long ball in the second game.
During game two, she batted 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI and three runs scored. Her five RBI were the most by a Lady Flame since Alexia Taylor's five-RBI game at Gardner-Webb, March 14, 2015.
Heating Up
Liberty totaled a season high in runs during a 13-1 win over Hampton, Thursday. It was Liberty's most runs scored in a game since downing ETSU, 13-4, on April 24, 2014.
Deidra See and Sarah Robertson both recorded their first career three-hit game against Hampton. Nine Lady Flames have recorded a three-hit contest this season. Jaclyn Amader leads with four three-hit games, followed by Mickey Loveridge (2), Alexia Taylor (2), Tori Zavodny (2), Katie Han, Kassidy McCoy, Rylee Reynolds, Robertson and See.
