Illini Top Lady Flames 3-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Liberty	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	1
Illinois	0	0	0	0	3	0	X	3	7	0

Liberty

Illinois

For the second day in a row, Liberty and Illinois played a tightly-contested game, with the Fighting Illini prevailing 3-2 on Sunday at Clemson’s McWhorter Stadium.

Illinois improves to 11-6 on the season, including 2-1 at this weekend’s Tiger Invitational. Liberty falls to 14-9 after its second straight one-run loss to the Illini. Yesterday, Illinois edged Liberty 5-4 in eight innings.

Liberty will face Clemson today at 3 p.m., and will finish up the Tiger Invitational tomorrow at 4 p.m. with a second game against the 15th-ranked Clemson Tigers.

Scoring Summary

Illinois – 5th INNING – Rummell homers to left, 1-0

Illinois – 5th INNING – Meade triples to center, Ward scores, 2-0

Illinois – 5th INNING – Powell singles to center, Meade scores, 3-0

Liberty – 6th INNING – Griffin homers to left center, Griffin and Hudson score, 3-2

Notable Numbers

- Illinois outhit Liberty 7-4 for the game, with the Lady Flames committing one error. The Illini left eight runners on base, while Liberty stranded three.

- Tori McQueen (3-2) earned her second win over Liberty in as many days, allowing two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out seven in six innings pitched. Sydney Sickels nailed down the save with a 1-2-3 seventh inning during which she struck out two.

- McKenzie Wagoner falls to 2-3 with the loss. She gave up three runs on six hits, walking two and fanning two in 4 1/3 innings. Naomi Jones allowed one hit and one walk in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

- Illinois’ Kailee Powell batted 2-for-2 with a double and one RBI, while Stevie Meade had an RBI triple and Delaney Rummell hit a home run.

- Caroline Hudson and Kara Canetto both doubled for the Lady Flames, while Griffin hit her second homer of the season and drove in two runs.

Turning Point

- Wagoner and McQueen both brought shutouts into the fifth inning. Rummell untied the game with a leadoff homer in the fifth. With one out, Megan Ward doubled and Meade tripled, making it 3-2. Jones came on in relief and allowed an RBI single to Powell. She then loaded the bases before getting out of the jam with a foul out.

- Liberty fought back in the sixth, getting a leadoff single from Devyn Howard. Griffin later came through with a two-out homer, trimming the deficit to 3-2, but Liberty could not find the equalizing run.

Beyond the Box Score

- Illinois leads the all-time series against Liberty, 4-0.

- Liberty went 4-4 this season against Big Ten opponents, and is 8-6 under Coach Richardson.

- Griffin has hit two out of her seven career homers against Illinois. Her first career home run came on Feb. 7, 2020 versus the Illini, a two-run pinch-hit homer at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic.

- The Lady Flames have posted a 1-2 record so far this season in one-run games.

- Liberty is 1-9 this season when its opponent scores first.

- Howard has reached base safely in each of the last 13 games, while Griffin has reached base safely in 10 consecutive games played.

- Howard (SS), Griffin (3B), KC Machado (2B), Janessa Plummer (LF) and Kara Canetto (DP) all made their first start at those respective positions for the season, today.

- Howard made her first start of the season at shortstop today. She is the first Lady Flame since Amber Bishop in 2017 to start at least one game at second, third and short in the same year.

- Plummer is the first Lady Flame since Taylor Hoffman and Alexis Erich in 2019 to start all three outfield positions during the same season.

Schedule

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Team Stats

Devyn Howard

Caroline Hudson

Denay Griffin

Kara Canetto