Liberty Hosts No. 4 Tennessee on Tuesday in Non-Conference Clash
3/18/2019 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Game Notes
Liberty (17-11, 1-2 ASUN) opens a four-game homestand by hosting No. 4 Tennessee (22-4, 2-1 SEC), Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium. This will be the first time Liberty has hosted Tennessee in softball since March 22, 2005, when the fifth-ranked Vols swept a doubleheader at Liberty Softball Field.
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Liberty's current 28-game home winning streak began on March 10, 2018. It is the second longest active home winning streak in NCAA Division I softball, trailing only Oklahoma's 41 games.
The Lady Flames have won each of their last 13 midweek games, dating to the 2018 season, and are 8-0 in midweek contests this year.
2018 Big South champion Liberty went 1-2 in its first ASUN series, last weekend at defending ASUN champion Kennesaw State. The Lady Flames dropped two one-run games to start the series before downing the Owls 11-3 in six innings in the series finale.
After winning 11 straight games from Feb. 17 through March 8, Liberty has gone 3-5. Liberty posted nine straight shutouts and did not allow a run in 60 consecutive innings, Feb. 21-March 8.
So far this season, Liberty has tossed 10 shutouts. Liberty has tossed two no-hitters, including a perfect game from Julia DiMartino and a four-pitcher no-hitter versus Quinnipiac. Liberty's top win so far this season came on Feb. 15, when the Lady Flames downed then No. 19 Texas A&M 4-2.
Liberty returns eight all-conference players from last year's team, led by two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year Julia DiMartino, 2019 ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Autumn Bishop and Amber Bishop. All three were named to the NFCA All-Region team each of the last two years. Autumn Bishop was named to the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List.
DiMartino, a two-time NFCA All-Region pitcher, has been named ASUN Pitcher of the Week three times. She is 9-5 with a 1.16 ERA (16th nationally) .174 opponents batting average and three shutouts. Freshman Braelyn Cooper has posted a 1.09 ERA in seven appearances, while Chase Cassady is 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA and 7.7 strikeouts per seven innings.
Autumn Bishop leads the team with a .370 batting average and is third in the ASUN with a .510 on base percentage. Her twin sister, Amber Bishop (.366) is the team leader in runs (20), doubles (7), homers (6) and RBI (14). Madison Via (.353) and Sarah Robertson (.333) are tied for second on the team with 17 runs scored. Robertson (.473 OBP) and Alexis Erich (.465 OBP) are second and third on the team in on-base percentage, while Kara Canetto (.280 avg.) is tied for the team lead with 14 RBI.
Quick Hits
- Liberty has outscored opponents a combined 71-3 in 10 home games this season, all wins.
- Julia DiMartino has appeared in more games (150) than any active NCAA Division I pitcher.
- Liberty is 0-6 all-time at home against nationally-ranked opponents.
- Amber Bishop needs one more double to become the third active Liberty player with 40 or more career doubles, joining Sarah Robertson (44) and Autumn Bishop (41).
- Madison Via batted 7-for-11 (.636) with two doubles and four RBI in four games last week.
- Autumn Bishop has reached base safely in each of Liberty's last 18 games.
- Liberty's last home loss came to then No. 18 Baylor, March 10, 2018.
Team Notes
- Liberty was picked as the favorite to win the conference title in the ASUN Preseason Coaches' Poll, while Tennessee appeared third in the SEC preseason poll.
- Liberty is 6-0 this season in run-rule games, and 2-5 in one-run ballgames.
- Liberty's recently-completed shutout streaks of nine consecutive shutout games (Feb. 21-March 8) and 60 straight shutout innings (Feb. 21-March 8) surpass the previous program records of six straight shutouts and 44 consecutive shutout innings, both of which were set in April 2017.
- On Feb. 28 against Quinnipiac, Julia DiMartino (four innings), Elizabeth Engler (1 IP), Chase Cassady (1 IP) and Emily Kirby (1 IP) pitched the second combined no-hitter in program history, and first since April 20, 2011, when Kat Johnson and Grace Nordan no-hit Norfolk State.
- Liberty's 20 runs scored Feb. 21 versus Delaware State were the team's most runs scored against a Division I opponent in program history.
- Liberty is currently ranked in the top 25 nationally in ERA (19th, 1.84) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (20th - 3.18).
- Liberty defeated No. 19 Texas A&M 4-2 on Feb. 15. It was the program's ninth win over a Top 25 team. The Lady Flames are 1-4 against nationally-ranked opponents this season and 9-64 all-time.
- Liberty went 2-7 against Top 25 teams last year. The team defeated No. 24/24 Hofstra and No. 11/10 South Carolina to start the 2018 NCAA Columbia Regional. Those were Liberty's first wins over nationally-ranked opponents since 2007, when the Lady Flames knocked off No. 23 Hawai'i, No. 10 Baylor and No. 6 Michigan. Liberty has suffered one-run losses to top five teams each of the last three years (2-1 (10) to No. 3 Florida, 2017, 4-3 to No. 3 UCLA, 2018, 4-3 to No. 2 UCLA, 2019).
- Liberty has posted a 1.35 ERA in 57 relief innings, while Julia DiMartino (1.09), Chase Cassady (1.17), Elizabeth Engler (1.31) and Braelyn Cooper (1.35) all have sub-2.00 relief ERA's.
- Jaclyn Amader (4-for-4 vs. BYU), Madison Via (4-for-4 vs. Duke) and Amber Bishop (4-for-4 vs. Sacred Heart all have one four-hit game this season. The last time three Lady Flames had a four-hit game in the same season was 2012, when Amber Donovan, Kaylee West and Katie Zavodny did so.
- Liberty's record has improved each season under Coach Richardson (11-46 in 2014, 29-30 in 2015, 31-28 in 2016, 46-24 in 2017, program-record 49-14 in 2018).
- Current Lady Flames Deidra See (4/23/16 vs. CSU), Emily Sweat (3/25/17 vs. Radford), Jasmeen Click (4/26/17 vs. Longwood) and Jaclyn Amader (2/16/18 vs. Central Michigan) all have recorded a game-winning walk-off hit in their career.
