Game Time Change Announced for Liberty-Winthrop Series Finale
5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Game Notes
Due to inclement weather in the forecast for Lynchburg, Va., this weekend, the three-game conference series between Liberty and Winthrop has been altered.
The series will now begin with a doubleheader on Friday, with the first game beginning at 4 p.m. On Saturday, Liberty and Winthrop will complete the regular season with a single game set for 10 a.m. at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
Please check back to LibertyFlames.com for the latest schedule updates.
Updated Schedule for Winthrop at Liberty
Friday, May 4 – Winthrop at Liberty (DH) – 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 5 – Winthrop at Liberty – 10 a.m. (ESPN3)
Liberty (41-12, 15-3) enters the final weekend of the regular-season with the Big South regular-season championship and No. 1 seed for the 2018 Big South Softball Championship within reach. The Lady Flames host Winthrop (17-27, 7-11), who is looking to secure a spot in the six-team conference tournament field. Liberty needs two wins this weekend to clinch a share of the conference regular-season title for the fifth time in program history and second year in a row. The Lady Flames need to sweep Winthrop to earn the No. 1 seed for the fourth time.
Liberty will honor its five seniors - Jessica Cicerchia, Madi Clarke, Cassie Gingerich, Alexia Taylor and Tori Zavodny - with a Senior Day ceremony prior to Saturday's game.
Liberty is riding an 11-game overall winning streak, most recently sweeping Virginia, 3-2 and 7-0, on Tuesday at Liberty Softball Stadium. The Lady Flames are also in the middle of a program-record 15-game home winning streak, dating back to March 10.
At 41-12, Liberty has set a program record for most regular-season wins in program history. On Tuesday, Liberty became the 13th NCAA Division I team to reach 40 wins this season.
Led by 2017 Big South Coach of the Year Dot Richardson, the defending NISC and Big South regular-season champion Lady Flames bat .301 as a team, averaging 5.0 runs per game. The Lady Flames hold a 2.21 team ERA, tossing a Big South-best 16 shutouts. Liberty also leads the conference with a .976 fielding percentage. During their current 11-game winning streak, the Lady Flames have outscored opponents, 59-10, outhitting them, .340-.177 while tossing six shutouts.
Junior Julia DiMartino, reigning Big South Pitcher of the Year, is 23-7 with a 1.93 ERA, leading the Big South in strikeouts (190), shutouts (8), saves (6) and opponents' batting average (.201). Elizabeth Engler is 7-2 with a Big South-best 1.83 ERA, while Chase Cassady holds a 9-2 record with a 2.39 ERA. Both Cassady (4) and Engler (2) have tossed multiple shutouts, while Emily Kirby tossed her first career shutout, April 26 at Hampton. This is the first time since 1996 that four different Lady Flames have tossed a shutout in the same season.
Amber Bishop sports a .375 batting average, with a team-leading 10 homers and 35 RBI. Tori Zavodny, who missed 24 games with a knee injury before coming back on Tuesday against Virginia, is batting .366 on the season. Autumn Bishop bats .363 and is in the top five nationally with a program-record-tying 21 doubles (t-4th) and program-record seven sacrifice flies (t-1st). Autumn Bishop's 20-game hitting streak earlier this season was the third longest in program history. Jaclyn Amader (.317) ranks fifth in the nation with seven triples, while Sarah Robertson (.297) is third on the team in doubles (14) and RBI (30).
Quick Hits
- Liberty needs a sweep this weekend to set a new program record for home victories, 23.
- 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.
- Liberty's current RPI, 33, is the seventh best among teams outside of the Power 5 conferences.
- The Lady Flames have allowed two total runs in their last 34 2/3 innings pitched as a team.
- Jessica Cicerchia posted her first two career two-hit games, Tuesday against Virginia.
Liberty vs. Winthrop
Winthrop (17-27, 7-11) enters the week in fifth place in Big South standings. 29th-year head coach Mark Cooke will retire after this season as the winningest coach in conference history.
Ashley Westbrooks lead the Eagles with a .342 average, 12 doubles and 26 RBI, while Morgan Lowers bats .266. Ansley Gilreath (.252) has hit nine homers and driven in 24 runs. Kiley Majette paces the Eagles with a 10-14 record, 3.03 ERA and three shutouts, while Sabrina Shroades is 2-7 with a 2.78 ERA.
Winthrop's Keleigh Romine and Liberty's Tori Zavodny were high school teammates at Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord, N.C.
Liberty vs. Winthrop - 2017 Series Recap (Liberty won series, 3-1)
Winthrop took the opening game of the regular-season series, 4-3 on April 21 in Rock Hill, S.C.
Liberty responded with a resounding 8-0, five-inning victory on April 22. Julia DiMartino tossed a shutout, while Sarah Robbertson went 2-for-3 with a homer and career-high five RBI.
The Lady Flames scored twice in the top of the seventh to win the series finale, 4-3.
Liberty eleminated the Eagles from the 2017 Big South Softball Championship, scoring a 9-3 victory on May 13 to advance to the championship round.
First to 30
With its 3-2 win at Longwood on April 6, Liberty became the 13th NCAA Division I team, and first from a non-Power Five conference, to reach 30 wins (30-8).
The Lady Flames have clinched their fourth 40-win season, and second in a row.
Liberty is the 13th Division I team to reach 40 wins this season, joining Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNCG and Washington.
Team Notes
- Liberty's 11-game overall winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in NCAA Division I softball, trailing only Minnesota (14), Saint Francis (Pa.) (14) and Eastern Kentucky (13). UCLA's current 11-game winning streak matches Liberty's active streak.
- 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 (3), Autumn Bishop (3) and Madison Via (2) have multiple three-hit games. 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.
- The Lady Flames have posted 16 shutouts so far this season, chasing the program record of 20, set in 1999. Liberty blanked its first three opponents of the season for the first time since 1995.
- Liberty is now 9-4 in one-run games during the 2018 season after going 6-8 in such games last year. That includes two walk-off wins (Feb. 22 vs. North Carolina; March 17 vs. Campbell).
- Liberty has twice won games when trailing entering the seventh inning, and did it in back-to-back games, against Central Michigan (Feb. 16) and versus North Carolina (Feb. 22), both in nine innings. The Lady Flames are 2-2 in extra-inning games this year.
- Autumn Bishop's grand slam, April 17 against Virginia Tech was the first grand slam hit by a Lady Flame in Liberty Softball Stadium history.
- Liberty won its first 10 Big South games this season, setting a new program record with a 10-game conference winning streak.
- Liberty has set or tied five program individual single-season records so far this year: sacrifice flies (Autumn Bishop - 7), saves (Julia DiMartino - 6), doubles (Autumn Bishop - 21 (tied)), wins (DiMartino - 23) and shutouts (DiMartino - 8 (tied)).
- The Lady Flames have stolen 28 bases over their last eight games, pushing their season total to 90. Liberty set a program record with 96 stolen bases last year.
Honors All Around
Julia DiMartino was named Big South Pitcher of the Week, April 23, for the third time this season and a program-record seventh time in her career. Chase Cassady (April 16) and Elizabeth Engler (March 26) have also been honored this year, making this the second year in a row, and third time in program history, that three Lady Flames have been named Big South Pitcher of the Week during the same season.
Amber Bishop was tabbed Big South Player of the Week, April 23, making her the first Lady Flame since Kelly Strickland (2009-10) to receive the honor as both a freshman and sophomore.
Autumn Bishop was named Big South Player of the Week on March 26 and April 2, the first Liberty player since Keely McMillon (2011) to receive Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks.
