Liberty and Longwood to Square Off in Altered Series, Friday and Sunday
4/5/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Game Notes
Due to inclement weather in the forecast for Farmville, Va., this weekend, the three-game conference series between Liberty and Longwood series has been altered.
Originally meant to be played on Saturday and Sunday, the series will begin with a doubleheader on Friday at 3 p.m. at Lancer Field. After a day off on Saturday, the two teams will finish the series on Sunday at 5 p.m. Sunday's game will be televised nationally on ESPNU, while Friday's games can be seen on the Big South Network.
Big South-leading Liberty (29-8, 9-0 Big South) heads to Farmville, Va., for a matchup of the top two teams in the Big South Conference. Longwood (21-11, 7-2), three-time defending Big South tournament champion, will host Liberty for a three-game series. These two teams met in the final of the 2017 Big South Softball Championship, which Longwood won, 4-2.
Liberty extended its winning streak to eight games with a 5-2 win over NC State on Tuesday, using a five-run fourth inning to overtake the Wolfpack. Julia DiMartino struck out 11 batters, while Jaclyn Amader went 2-for-3.
Liberty posted a three-game sweep of Gardner-Webb at home last weekend, Elizabeth Engler (four-hitter, six strikeouts) and Chase Cassady (two-hitter, nine K's) tossed back-to-back shutouts on Saturday, extending Liberty's shutout streak. Liberty has outscored conference opponents, 65-12, so far this season.
Autumn Bishop and Amber Bishop both had monster series against Gardner-Webb, each batting .700 (7-for-10) with five runs scored. Autumn Bishop recorded three doubles and four RBI, and she was named Big South Player of the Week for the second week in a row. Jaclyn Amader batted .500 with six RBI in the Gardner-Webb series.
Led by 2017 Big South Coach of the Year Dot Richardson, the defending NISC and Big South regular-season champion Lady Flames bat .311 as a team, averaging 5.3 runs per game. The Lady Flames hold a 2.61 team ERA, tossing a Big South-best 10 shutouts. Liberty also leads the conference with a .974 fielding percentage.
Junior Julia DiMartino, reigning Big South Pitcher of the Year, is 17-5 with a 2.30 ERA, leading the Big South in strikeouts (134), shutouts (6), saves (3) and innings pitched (130.2) . Engler is 6-0 with a Big South-best 1.51 ERA, while Chase Cassady holds a 5-2 record with a 3.12 ERA. Both Cassady and Engler have tossed two shutouts this year.
Autumn Bishop bats .395 and currently leads the nation with 17 doubles. Amber Bishop sports a .375 average, pacing the team with five homers and 27 RBI. Taylor Hoffman hits .322, while Sarah Robertson (.315) and Jaclyn Amader (.310) have posted 24 and 23 RBI, respectively. Amader is the Big South leader with five triples.
Quick Hits
- Liberty is outscoring opponents, 55-9, during its current eight-game winning streak.
- Liberty was picked to finish second in the Big South preseason poll. Julia DiMartino is Preseason Pitcher of the Year, and Amber Bishop is Preseason Player of the Year.
- Three different Liberty pitchers have two or more shutouts this season.
- Autumn Bishop is batting .483 (28-for-58) with 17 RBI during her 18-game hitting streak.
Liberty vs. Longwood
Longwood (22-11, 7-2) has had a busy week, downing Hampton (2-1) and Elon (10-7) on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Lancers lead the Big South in team ERA, both overall (1.98) and in conference play (1.37). Liberty is second in both categories.
Kaylynn Batten (.344) and Jessica Smith (.326) have both registered four homers and 20 RBI. Sydney Gay is 16-7 with a 1.81 ERA, while Sydney Backstrom has gone 6-4 with a 2.04 ERA.
Longwood holds a 41-31 overall record against Liberty, with the Lancers going 12-3 in the last 15 meetings.
2017 Recap - Liberty vs. Longwood
Longwood went 4-2 overall against Liberty, winning a series at Liberty Softball Stadium before going 2-1 against the Lady Flames at the Big South Softball Championship.
Longwood took game one, April 25, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win, 3-2. The Lady Flames faced a 6-0 deficit in game two, before scoring six runs in the sixth inning and getting a walk-off single from Jasmeen Click in the seventh.
The Lancers won the series finale, 3-0, April 26, as Sydney Gay pitched a four-hit shutout.
The host Lancers used a four-run sixth inning to defeat Liberty, 7-4, on May 13, 2017 at the Big South tournament. Liberty bounced back to beat both Winthrop and Longwood by 9-3 scores later that day to force a winner-take-all final. Longwood edged Liberty, 4-2, in the final on May 14, claiming its fourth Big South tournament title in five years as a member of the conference.
Best When it Counts
After its 4-3, walk-off win over Campbell on March 17, Liberty is now 6-1 in one-run games during the 2018 season after going 6-8 in such games last year.
On Feb. 16 against Central Michigan, Amber Bishop tied the game at 3-all with a seventh-inning solo homer, before Tori Zavodny's go-ahead triple in the ninth won it, 4-3.
The Lady Flames erased one-run deficits in the seventh and eighth against North Carolina before winning, 3-2, on an overthrow when Jaclyn Amader stole third in the ninth on Feb. 22.
Team Notes
- Liberty (29-8) is 21 games over .500 in the regular season for the first time since ending the 2010 regular season at 37-16. That is also tied for the most games over .500, 21, that Liberty has been at any point during any regular season.
- The Lady Flames have posted 10 shutouts so far this season, halfway to the program record of 20, set in 1999. Liberty blanked its first three opponents of the season for the first time since 1995.
- Liberty has outscored opponents 55-9 in its last eight games, all wins, batting .348 while holding opponents to a .176 batting average. Elizabeth Engler (3-0, 0.00 ERA), Julia DiMartino (4-0, 1.62) and Chase Cassady (1-0) have all tossed one shutout during the streak. Autumn Bishop has batted .536 with 12 RBI, while Amber Bishop has hit .517 with 11 runs scored. Jaclyn Amader (.333), Jasmeen Click (.333), Madison Via (.318) and Kaitlin McFarland (.316) are all above .300.
- Liberty needs one more win to clinch its 13th 30-win season in program history, and third in a row. The program record for most consecutive 30-win seasons is five, 1996 through 2000.
- Nine different Lady Flames have a three-hit game this season, led by Amber Bishop's six three-hit contests. Tori Zavodny (3), Taylor Hoffman (2), Amber Bishop (2) and Madison Via (2) have multiple three-hit games in 2018. Deidra See's 4-for-4 game at PC, March 24 was Liberty's first four-hit game of 2018, joining Amber Bishop (5/13/17 at Longwood) as current Lady Flames with a four-hit game.
Quick Conference Report
In nine conference games so far this season, all wins, Liberty is batting .390, outscoring opponents 65-12 while holding opponents to a .164 batting average.
Autumn Bishop is batting .586 with seven doubles and 11 RBI, while Amber Bishop (.516) has scored 13 runs. Madison Via hits .455 with eight RBI. Sarah Robertson and Jaclyn Amader both bat .360. Amader has driven in 10 runs. Jasmeen Click hits .353 while Kaitlin McFarland bats .348.
Elizabeth Engler is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA and .125 opponents' batting average, while Julia DiMartino (6-0) has a 1.18 ERA, two shutouts and a .150 OBA. Chase Cassady is 1-0 with a 2.55 ERA.
Weekly Honors
On Monday, sophomore Autumn Bishop was named Big South Softball Player of the Week for the second week in a row. She joins Keely McMillon (2011) and Shannon Tanski (1996) as the only two Lady Flames with back-to-back Big South Player of the Week honors.
Double-Double
Liberty leads the Big South with 61 doubles, 15 doubles more than the closest team.
After hitting 15 doubles in 2017, Autumn Bishop currently leads the nation with 17 doubles this year. She is the first player in program history with 15 or more doubles in back-to-back seasons.
Sarah Robertson led the Lady Flames with 16 doubles last year, including a program-record-tying three doubles against NC Central on March 11. Amber Bishop has hit 12 doubles this season, while Robertson is third on the team with nine two-base hits.
Crossing the Plate
Twice this season, Liberty has had a player tie the program single-game record with four runs scored. Jaclyn Amader scored four times against Delaware on March 9, while Sarah Robertson tallied four runs versus Campbell, March 18.
Triple the Fun
Liberty leads the conference with 14 triples. Jaclyn Amader is the Big South leader with five triples, while Tori Zavodny is tied for second with four three-base hits.
On the Shutouts
Julia DiMartino has tossed a conference-best six shutouts this season, giving her 20 for her career. She is the first pitcher in program history with six or more shutouts in three separate seasons. Chase Cassady and Elizabeth Engler both have two shutouts apiece this season. Engler (four-hitter) and Cassady (two-hitter) both shut out Gardner-Webb on Saturday.
DiMartino was named Big South Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 12. She is the first player in program history to be named Big South Pitcher of the Week as a freshman, sophomore and junior.
First time for Everything
Autumn Bishop became the first player in program history to hit a sacrifice fly in three straight games, doing so March 23 through March 30. She has tied the program single-season record with four sacrifice flies. Teammate Deidra See also hit four sac flies in 2017.
Milestones Abound
Liberty senior Alexia Taylor and junior Sarah Robertson were the fourth and fifth Lady Flames all-time to reach the 100-hit plateau as sophomores. Sophomore Amber Bishop joined them in the 100-hit club, earning her 100th hit, a double, at No. 20/21 South Carolina on March 2. Autumn Bishop joined the 100-hit club on March 24 at Presbyterian. Amber Bishop's 133 career hits are already the most by any Liberty player by the end of her sophomore season.
On March 23 at PC, Alexia Taylor became the 14th player in program history to record her 100th career run. The next day, she became the seventh player in program history to reach 200 career hits. She is just the fourth player in program history with 200+ hits, 100+ runs and 100+ RBI, joining Ashley Williams (2005-08), Jessica Moore (2005-07) and Kelby Allen (2012-15).
