Liberty University
34-17, 16-5
Austin Peay
24-20, 11-9
Lady Flames' 11-2 Run-Rule Win Secures Sweep of Governors
4/29/2023 6:25:41 PM | Softball
Liberty scored four times in the fifth inning, securing an 11-2, five-inning victory and series sweep of visiting Austin Peay, Saturday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
With the win, its fifth in a row, Liberty (34-17, 16-5 ASUN) clinches its spot in the 2023 ASUN Softball Championship. Meanwhile, APSU (24-20, 11-10) has been swept in each of its last two conference series (home versus North Alabama, at Liberty).
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Hudson doubles to left, Howard scores, 1-0
Liberty – 1st INNING – Roupe singles through right side, Hudson scores, 2-0
APSU – 2nd INNING – Roberts singles down left field line, Apiag advances, Campbell scores 2-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Craine homers to left center, Hudson scores, 4-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Fortner homers to left center, 5-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Craine singles up the middle, Howard advances, Wilson scores, 6-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Fortner reached on error, Craine advances, Howard scores, 7-1
APSU – 5th INNING – Campbell singles up the middle, Osowski-Anderson advances, Zuege scores, 7-2
Liberty – 5th INNING – Howard flies out to center, sacrifice fly, Woodard scores, 8-2
Liberty – 5th INNING – Roupe homers to left center, Heidorn and Wilson score, 11-2
Notable Numbers
- Liberty outhit APSU 15-6 for the game, the Lady Flames’ second 15-hit game in a row. Both teams recorded an error, while Liberty turned the game’s lone double play.
- Paige Bachman (9-8), making her first start since April 16 against Stetson, allowed two runs on six hits, walking two in the complete-game win. She got the win in relief in game one of today’s doubleheader.
- APSU’s Jordan Benefiel (17-10) allowed five runs on seven hits in three innings, striking out one before giving way to Ashley Martin.
- Rachel Roupe batted 2-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and one run scored, while Rachel Craine went 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBI and one run scored. Caroline Hudson batted 3-for-4 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored, while Mary Claire Wilson and Savannah Woodard both went 2-for-3. Megan Fortner hit her sixth homer of the season, while Devyn Howard scored two runs.
- Kylie Campbell went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored for APSU, while Macee Roberts went 2-for-2 with one RBI.
Turning Point
- Liberty led 2-1 with bases loaded and two outs in the top of the second. Megan Hodum lifted a shallow pop that would have put the Governors ahead. However, KK Madrey dove for the run-saving catch to end the rally. Madrey would later throw out a runner at home in the fifth.
- The Lady Flames pushed their lead to 5-1 with back-to-back homers by Craine and Fortner in the third and did not look back from there.
Beyond the Box Score
- Liberty is now 3-1 all-time against Austin Peay in softball.
- The Lady Flames outscored APSU 28-12 on the weekend. It was Liberty’s third-highest scoring three-game conference series and highest since scoring a program-record 29 runs at Eastern Kentucky in a 3-0 sweep last season.
- Liberty finished with a 9-3 home record in ASUN play this season, and went 35-7 in regular-season ASUN games played at Liberty Softball Stadium since joining the conference in 2019.
- Liberty is 22-3 at home this season.
- Liberty honored its three seniors (Emily Estroff, Devyn Howard, Caroline Hudson) with a senior ceremony today.
- Hudson recorded her third two-double game of the season. Hudson is now tied with Beth Bennett (2006-09) and Sarah Robertson (2016-19) for seventh in program history with 126 career RBI.
- Howard passed Amber Bishop-Riley (2017-21) today and is now seventh all-time at Liberty with 67 career walks. Howard is tied with Kaylee West (2009-12) for third in program history with eight sacrifice flies.
- Hudson pushed her hitting streak to 11 games.
- Seven out of Roupe’s eight home runs this season, and 13 out of 16 for her career, have come at Liberty Softball Stadium.
- Every Liberty batter in the lineup today had at least one multiple-hit game in the doubleheader, with Hudson, Roupe and Wilson recording multiple hits in both games.
- Liberty has tied a program single-season record (also 2001, 2021) with 22 double plays this year.
Up Next
Liberty wraps up its regular-season home schedule on Wednesday at 6 p.m., hosting Virginia Tech.
Featured in photo: KK Madrey
[gallery link="file" size="large" display="slider" wpmf_folder_id="2511" ids="459913,459917,459919,459923,459925,459927,459931,459935,459941,459942,459944,459948,459950,459955,459958,459961,459964,459965,459967,459968,459970,459971,459973,459975,459976,459977,459980,459983,459985"]
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bachman, Paige (9-8)
L: BENEFIEL (17-10)
Batting:
RBI: CAMPBELLK 1 ; ROBERTS 1
SH: APIAG 1 ; WEINZAPFEL 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ZUEGE 1 ; CAMPBELLK 1
Batting:
2B: Hudson, Caroline 2
HR: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1
RBI: Howard, Devyn 1 ; Hudson, Caroline 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 4 ; Craine, Rachel 3 ; Fortner, Megan 1
SF: Howard, Devyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Howard, Devyn 2 ; Hudson, Caroline 2 ; Heidorn, Lilly 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1 ; Woodard, Savannah 1 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 2
SB: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Woodard, Savannah 1 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 1
HBP: Kersten, Sierra 1
