No. 25 Liberty to Compete in Knoxville Regional to Open NCAA Softball Championship
5/16/2021 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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ASUN champion, No. 25 Liberty (42-13) will open play in the 2021 NCAA Division I Softball Championship on Friday at noon., competing in the Knoxville Regional against James Madison (34-1). The No. 9 national seed, Tennessee, will host the four-team regional, Friday through Sunday, at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. In the other side of the bracket, No. 9 seed Tennessee (41-13) will face Eastern Kentucky (34-15), Friday at 2:30 p.m.
NCAA Knoxville Regional Schedule
Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
Friday, May 21
Game 1: Liberty vs. James Madison - Noon
Game 2: No. 9 Tennessee vs. Eastern Kentucky - 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 22
Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - Noon
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 2:30 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner - 5 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Sunday, May 23
Game 6: Regional Final - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 winner - Noon
Game 7: * if necessary - Rematch of Game 6 - 2:30 p.m.
The winner of this week's Knoxville Regional will face the winner of the Columbia (Mo.) Regional, next Friday through Sunday.
Liberty went posted a 16-2 conference record, earning the No. 1 North Division seed for the ASUN Softball Championship. The Lady Flames opened the semifinal round with a walk-off, 1-0 win over Jacksonville. Liberty then downed host Kennesaw State 4-1 on Friday before holding off KSU 5-4 in the final, Saturday.
Senior Amber Bishop-Riley was named ASUN Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by senior Autumn Bishop, junior Emily Kirby and freshman Caroline Hudson.
On Tuesday, Liberty received its first-ever national ranking, coming in at No. 25 in both the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
The Lady Flames have gone 21-1 in their last 22 games, posting 12 shutouts and seven one-run victories during that stretch. Liberty is tied for fifth in the nation with 42 victories at present, trailing only Miami (Ohio) (46-8), Oklahoma (45-2), Alabama (45-7) and Louisiana (44-10).
This will be Liberty's fourth appearance all-time in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship and first since 2018. That year, Liberty earned its first two NCAA Tournament wins in program history, advancing to the NCAA Columbia Regional. The Lady Flames downed No. 24 Hofstra 2-0 in 10 innings in the Regional opener before knocking off the host No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks 3-1 the following day.
The team made its first postseason appearance in 2002, competing in the Columbia, S.C., Regional against No. 1 UCLA and UMBC. The Lady Flames next qualified for the NCAA Knoxville Regional in 2011, falling to No. 5 Tennessee and No. 19 Georgia Tech.
This is the fourth full season in a row in which Liberty will compete in the postseason, as the Lady Flames won the inaugural Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship in 2017. Following its 2018 NCAA Columbia Regional Final appearance, Liberty won the 2019 NISC Lynchburg Regional to advance to the NISC National round for the second time.
Liberty is one of seven teams who competed in the 2019 NISC who will also play in the 2021 NCAA Division I Softball Championship, joining Iowa State, OVC champion Eastern Kentucky, Mountain West champion Fresno State, Atlantic-10 champion George Washington, Southland champion McNeese and Summit League champion South Dakota State.
The Lady Flames went 12-12 against teams who qualified for the 2021 NCAA Division I Softball Championship, including a win over national seed Arkansas, Troy, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame and two wins over Villanova. Liberty posted a 2-9 record against Top 25 teams, knocking off then No. 13 Arkansas in 10 innings on March 16 and posting a nine-inning walk-off win over No. 18 Virginia Tech, April 28.
