Sunday, March 17
Lynchburg, Va.
11:00 AM ET
Liberty University
14-12, 5-1
6
vs
1
Jacksonville State
10-18, 0-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Jacksonville State
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
Liberty
1
3
0
1
1
0
X
6
7
0
Lady Flames Complete Series Sweep of Gamecocks With 6-1 Win
3/17/2024 2:48:00 PM | Softball
LYNCHBURG, Va. - Liberty completed a weekend sweep of Jacksonville State, defeating the Gamecocks 6-1 on Sunday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
The Lady Flames improve to 14-12 overall, including 5-1 in Conference USA play with their first CUSA series sweep. Fellow CUSA newcomer Jax State falls to 10-18, 0-3 in conference play.
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Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Jessee grounds out, Wilson advances, Roupe scores, 1-0
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Nicholson singles to left, advances on throw, Reed advances, Nowakowski scores, 1-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Wilson singles to left center, Roupe advances, Barrett and Fortner score, 3-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Deter strikes out, takes first on dropped third strike, Wilson advances, Roupe scores, 4-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Kersten flies out to left, sac fly, Roupe scores, 5-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner homers to right center, 6-1
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Turning Point
Liberty concludes its five-game homestand on Wednesday, hosting Charlotte. Game time is set for 4 p.m. Â
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The Lady Flames improve to 14-12 overall, including 5-1 in Conference USA play with their first CUSA series sweep. Fellow CUSA newcomer Jax State falls to 10-18, 0-3 in conference play.
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Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Jessee grounds out, Wilson advances, Roupe scores, 1-0
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Nicholson singles to left, advances on throw, Reed advances, Nowakowski scores, 1-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Wilson singles to left center, Roupe advances, Barrett and Fortner score, 3-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Deter strikes out, takes first on dropped third strike, Wilson advances, Roupe scores, 4-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Kersten flies out to left, sac fly, Roupe scores, 5-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner homers to right center, 6-1
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Turning Point
- Liberty broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run third inning. Mary Claire Wilson came through with a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded, making it 3-1. Rachel Roupe later scored from second when Hailey Deter reached on a dropped third strike.
- After the Lady Flames took the lead, Katie Love entered the circle in relief of starter Tyler Oubre, pitching five shutout innings while Liberty added two late insurance runs.
- Liberty outhit Jacksonville State 7-5 on the day, while both teams left seven runners on base.
- Love (4-3) earned a win for the second game in a row, striking out a career-high seven batters while walking one and allowing two hits in five innings. Oubre yielded one run on three hits, walking one and fanning one in two innings as the starter.
- Jax State starter Amber Reed (2-2) drew the loss, allowing four runs (three earned), on four hits, walking two and striking out three in 2 1/3 innings. Relievers Kat Carter and Sarah Currie allowed one run each.
- Megan Fortner and Raigan Barrett both went 2-for-3. Fortner homered, drove in one and scored twice. Mary Claire Wilson went 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBI, while Rachel Roupe also batted 1-for-2 with two walks and scored three times.
- Reed batted 1-for-3 with a double for the Gamecocks, while Kenzie Nicholson went 1-for-1 with one RBI.Â
- Liberty is now 4-1 all-time against Jacksonville State in softball, winning the last three meetings.
- Current Liberty senior Megan Fortner hit a homer against her former team. Fortner played from 2020 through 2022 at Jacksonville State, leading the Atlantic Sun Conference in doubles in 2022 before transferring to Liberty.
- Liberty outscored Jax State by a combined score of 13-1 this weekend.
- Fortner hit her 33rd career home run, spanning her time at Jax State and Liberty. She is Liberty's active career leader in hits (169), doubles (43), homers (33) and RBI (118).
- Roupe tied her career high with three runs scored. It was the sixth time in her career in which she has scored three runs, and third time this season.
- Love has not allowed a run in her last 13 2/3 innings pitched, yielding just two base hits in that span.
- Liberty has outscored opponents 43-8 in nine home games so far this season.
Liberty concludes its five-game homestand on Wednesday, hosting Charlotte. Game time is set for 4 p.m. Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Love, Katie (4-3)
L: Amber Reed (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Amber Reed 1
RBI: Kenzie Nicholson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Morgan Nowakowski 1
SB: Emma Jones 1
HBP: Kenzie Nicholson 1
Batting:
HR: Fortner, Megan 1
RBI: Wilson, Mary Claire 2 ; Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Kersten, Sierra 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1
SF: Kersten, Sierra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Roupe, Rachel 3 ; Fortner, Megan 2 ; Barrett, Raigan 1
SB: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 1
CS: Norris, Aubry 1
HBP: Craine, Rachel 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
3
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
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