Lady Flames to Celebrate Senior Weekend Against Jacksonville
4/22/2022 11:32:04 AM | Softball
ASUN-leading Liberty (32-13, 15-0 ASUN), coming off of a big 8-3 home win over No. 9 Duke on Wednesday, hosts Jacksonville (14-23, 8-7) for an ASUN series, Saturday and Sunday. The Lady Flames (at FGCU) and Dolphins (vs. Stetson) both swept ASUN conference series last weekend.
Liberty vs. Jacksonville
Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium
Lynchburg, Va.
Saturday, April 23
2 p.m. – Game 1 Live Stats | Live Video
4:30 p.m. – Game 2 Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, April 24
Noon – Game 3 Live Stats | Live Video
Liberty is 18-1 in its last 19 games, with the only loss being last Tuesday at home to No. 2 Virginia Tech. The Lady Flames earned their second nationally-ranked win this season, using a five-run sixth inning to defeat No. 9 Duke 8-3 on Wednesday. The Blue Devils came to town ranked second in the nation in scoring, and Emily Kirby held them to one earned run on four hits, striking out nine. Meanwhile, Mary Claire Wilson went 3-for-3 and Kara Canetto batted 2-for-3.
Liberty is one of seven NCAA Division I teams to remain undefeated in conference play, and the Lady Flames’ 15-0 ASUN record serves as the most wins without a conference loss of any team.
Liberty has gone 16-4 at home this season, including 2-2 versus Top 25 teams and 6-0 in ASUN home games. Since the start of the 2018 season, Liberty is 88-13 (.871) at Liberty Softball Stadium. including 33-3 (.917) in home conference games during that span.
The Lady Flames and Dolphins last met in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 ASUN Softball Championship. Karlie Keeney (6 IP) and Emily Kirby (1 IP) combined on a three-hit shutout, and Liberty’s fourth hit off of Jacksonville’s Alyssa Bilodeau was a two-out walk-off RBI single from Autumn Bishop that sealed a 1-0 victory for the Lady Flames.
Liberty will honor five seniors - Lou Allan, Kara Canetto, Denay Griffin, Megan Johnson and Emily Kirby - with a Senior Day ceremony prior to Sunday’s series finale. Jacksonville’s last visit to Lynchburg, April 19-20, was also Liberty’s Senior Weekend and ended in a 3-0 Liberty sweep. This year’s senior class has amassed 175 wins in the last four-plus years, including two NCAA Regional finals appearances. They also helped the team earn the program’s highest-ever RPI, first national ranking and 10 wins over Top 25 programs to date.
Karlie Keeney (14-6, 2.39), a 2021 ASUN All-Conference second team pitcher, is tied for second in the ASUN in victories overall. Sophomore McKenzie Wagoner (6-3, 2.00) ranks fourth in the conference in ERA. 2021 ASUN Pitcher of the Year Emily Kirby (8-4, 2.15) leads the ASUN with 8.68 strikeouts per seven innings overall and is fifth with a 2.15 ERA.
Devyn Howard leads Liberty with a .368 batting average, an ASUN-leading 30 walks, .470 on base percentage and an ASUN-best 46 runs scored. Howard is tied for fifth nationally with five sacrifice flies. Mary Claire Wilson bats .350, including a conference-best .463 in ASUN play. 2021 Big Ten first-teamer Lou Allan (.324) has six homers and 28 RBI, while Caroline Hudson (.286) ranks second in the ASUN in both homers (12) and RBI (39). ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Kara Canetto bats .304 with a team-best nine steals. Denay Griffin bats .270 and ranks third in the ASUN with 26 walks. Rachel Roupe (.235) has hit four homers and driven in 24 runs this season.
Kara Canetto’s next run scored will be the 100th of her career, making her the 20th player in program history to score 100 or more career runs. Also, ninth-year Head Coach Dot Richardson will coach in her 500th game as a head coach on Sunday.
