Friday, February 16
Leesburg, Fla.
2:00 PM ET
Liberty University
2-6
1
vs
5
Illinois
1-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Liberty
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
6
1
Illinois
0
1
0
2
0
2
X
5
8
0
Lady Flames Fall to Illinois, Iowa at THE Spring Games
2/16/2024 8:56:00 PM | Softball
LEESBURG, Fla. - Liberty fell to both Illinois and Iowa on Friday at Sleepy Hollow Softball Complex. The Fighting Illini pulled away for a 5-1 win, while the Hawkeyes held off the Lady Flames, 4-2.
The Lady Flames (2-7) have gone 1-2 so far at THE Spring Games, with a win yesterday over Coastal Carolina and today's setbacks to Illinois and Iowa. Both of Liberty's opponents went 1-1 today, as Illinois (1-4) lost to Kansas tonight and Iowa (4-3) fell to Southern Illinois earlier today.
Illinois 5, Liberty 1
Scoring Summary
Illinois – 2nd INNING – Ward reaches on fielder's choice, Malott scores, 1-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Kersten doubles to right center, Wilson scores, 1-1
Illinois – 4th INNING – Caryl doubles to left, Ward advances, Debevec scores, 2-1
Illinois – 4th INNING – Berkmeyer singles to right, Caryl advances, Ward scores, 3-1
Illinois – 6th INNING – Berkmeyer singles to right, Ward scores, 4-1
Illinois – 6th INNING – Avila singles to left, Howard scores, 5-1
Turning Point
Scoring Summary
Iowa – 1st INNING – Berry triples to right, Banes scores, 1-0
Iowa – 1st INNING – Klosterman singles to left center, Berry scores, 2-0
Liberty – 1st INNING – Kersten grounds out, Fortner advances, Wilson scores, 2-1
Iowa – 5th INNING – Young singles to right, Mattiello scores on error, 3-1
Iowa – 5th INNING – Diaz singles up the middle, Young scores, 4-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Jessee singles to right, Norris advances, Roupe scores, 4-2
Turning Point
The Lady Flames take on Ohio State tomorrow at 9 a.m. The game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. but was moved up due to rain in the forecast for later in the day.
The Lady Flames (2-7) have gone 1-2 so far at THE Spring Games, with a win yesterday over Coastal Carolina and today's setbacks to Illinois and Iowa. Both of Liberty's opponents went 1-1 today, as Illinois (1-4) lost to Kansas tonight and Iowa (4-3) fell to Southern Illinois earlier today.
Illinois 5, Liberty 1
Scoring Summary
Illinois – 2nd INNING – Ward reaches on fielder's choice, Malott scores, 1-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Kersten doubles to right center, Wilson scores, 1-1
Illinois – 4th INNING – Caryl doubles to left, Ward advances, Debevec scores, 2-1
Illinois – 4th INNING – Berkmeyer singles to right, Caryl advances, Ward scores, 3-1
Illinois – 6th INNING – Berkmeyer singles to right, Ward scores, 4-1
Illinois – 6th INNING – Avila singles to left, Howard scores, 5-1
Turning Point
- Illinois jumped ahead with a two-run fourth inning, getting an RBI double from Adisyn Caryl and an RBI single from Paige Berkmeyer.
- The Illini tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth before Tori McQueen tossed a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the 5-1 win.
- Illinois outhit Liberty 8-6 for the game, while the Lady Flames committed the contest's lone error. Liberty left seven runners on base, while Illinois stranded five.
- Lauren Wiles (1-2) earned the win, allowing one run on five hits, walking three and striking out two in 4 2/3 innings. McQueen allowed one hit and struck out two in 2 1/3 innings pitched.
- Tyler Oubre (0-2) drew the loss, yielding three runs in four hits, walking one in 3 1/3 innings. Elena Escobar allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits while striking out three in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
- Illinois' Adisyn Caryl, Paige Berkmeyer and Megan Ward all went 2-for-3 with one RBI each. Ward scored two runs.
- For Liberty, Brooke Roberts went 2-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. Mary Claire Wilson batted 2-for-4 with one run scored. Sierra Kersten doubled and drove in one run.
- Illinois has won all five meetings in softball with Liberty.
- Prior to today, Liberty had won each of its last 11 games at THE Spring Games, dating back to the 2021 event. Liberty went 5-0 at THE Spring Games in both 2021 and 2022.
- Roberts recorded her first multiple-hit game as a Lady Flame, while Wilson had two hits for the first time this season.
Scoring Summary
Iowa – 1st INNING – Berry triples to right, Banes scores, 1-0
Iowa – 1st INNING – Klosterman singles to left center, Berry scores, 2-0
Liberty – 1st INNING – Kersten grounds out, Fortner advances, Wilson scores, 2-1
Iowa – 5th INNING – Young singles to right, Mattiello scores on error, 3-1
Iowa – 5th INNING – Diaz singles up the middle, Young scores, 4-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Jessee singles to right, Norris advances, Roupe scores, 4-2
Turning Point
- Iowa added two insurance runs in the top of the fifth, both with two outs. Devin Bowman walked. Young then singled to right and pinch runner Echo Matiello scored on a throwing error. Sammy Diaz made it 4-1 with a single.
- With Liberty trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Megan Fortner drew a one-out walk. After two outs, Savannah Jessee hit a high drive to left center which was caught just in front of the fence.
- Iowa outhit Liberty 11-7 for the game, while both teams left nine runners on base. The Lady Flames committed two errors, compared to one for Iowa.
- Jalen Adams (2-1) earned the win, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out two in seven innings.
- Kaylan Yoder (0-2) yielded two runs on four hits, walking one in 1/3 of an inning as the starting pitcher. Elena Escobar gave up two runs, one earned, on seven hits, with two walks and three strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of work.
- Iowa got two hits from No. 22 (Brylee Klosterman), No. 23 (Grace Banes) and No. 24 (Jena Young).
- Savannah Jessee batted 2-for-4 with one RBI for the Lady Flames, while Rachel Roupe doubled and scored.
- Iowa leads Liberty 4-1 all-time in softball, with the Hawkeyes winning the last four meetings.
- Roupe has reached base safely in all nine games this season, extending her games reached base streak to 12, dating back to last season. Roupe also threw out a runner at the plate from right field to end the top of the first.
- Deter, who started at left field for the first time, has a hit in each of the last four games.
- Freshman Kerissa Howell, who made her first career start tonight, earned her first collegiate hit.
- Jessee recorded her first career two-hit game.
The Lady Flames take on Ohio State tomorrow at 9 a.m. The game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. but was moved up due to rain in the forecast for later in the day.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wiles, Lauren (1-2)
L: Oubre, Tyler (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Kersten, Sierra 1
RBI: Kersten, Sierra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Mary Claire 1
SB: Wilson, Mary Claire 1
HBP: Roberts, Brooke 1
Batting:
2B: Caryl, Adisyn 1
RBI: Ward, Megan 1 ; Caryl, Adisyn 1 ; Berkmeyer, Paige 1 ; Avila, Yazzy 1
SH: Ryniec, Abby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Malott, Sydney 1 ; Debevec, Gabrielle 1 ; Ward, Megan 2 ; Howard, Zoie 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ Softball
INF
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INF
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C
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INF
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P
/ SoftballINF
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OF
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OF
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P
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