
Liberty Edges No. 21 Charlotte 6-5
3/20/2024 7:53:00 PM | Softball
LYNCHBURG, VA. - Liberty pushed its winning streak to four games, edging Charlotte 6-5 on Wednesday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
The Lady Flames improve to 15-12 overall with their second win over a Top 25 team this season. Charlotte (16-9), which was ranked No. 21 in this week's D1Softball.com Top 25, saw its winning streak snapped at six games.
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Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Wilson homers to right, Roupe scores, 2-0
Charlotte – 2nd INNING – Chancey reaches on error, Hoffler scores, 2-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Madrey steals second, advances to third on error, scores on error, 3-1
Charlotte – 3rd INNING – Rodi homers to center, Ritchie scores, 3-3
Liberty – 5th INNING – Roupe doubles to right center, Barrett scores, 4-3
Liberty – 5th INNING – Kersten singles to right, Wilson and Roupe score, 6-3
Charlotte – 6th INNING – Dirks singles to left center, Williams and Hoffler score, 6-5
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Turning Point
Beyond the Box Score
Liberty heads to Huntsville, Texas, this weekend for a three-game Conference USA series at Sam Houston, Friday through Sunday.
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The Lady Flames improve to 15-12 overall with their second win over a Top 25 team this season. Charlotte (16-9), which was ranked No. 21 in this week's D1Softball.com Top 25, saw its winning streak snapped at six games.
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Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Wilson homers to right, Roupe scores, 2-0
Charlotte – 2nd INNING – Chancey reaches on error, Hoffler scores, 2-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Madrey steals second, advances to third on error, scores on error, 3-1
Charlotte – 3rd INNING – Rodi homers to center, Ritchie scores, 3-3
Liberty – 5th INNING – Roupe doubles to right center, Barrett scores, 4-3
Liberty – 5th INNING – Kersten singles to right, Wilson and Roupe score, 6-3
Charlotte – 6th INNING – Dirks singles to left center, Williams and Hoffler score, 6-5
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Turning Point
- Liberty broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run fifth. Rachel Roupe drove in Raigan Barrett with an RBI double. After an infield hit by Mary Claire Wilson, Sierra Kersten made it 6-3 Liberty with a sharp single to right.
- Charlotte battled back to within one on London Dirks' two-run single in the top of the sixth. Kaylan Yoder clinched the win with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, retiring Charlotte's top three batters in order.Â
- Liberty outhit Charlotte 8-5 for the game. The 49ers committed three errors, compared to two defensive miscues by the Lady Flames. The guests left four runners on base, while the hosts stranded two.
- Yoder (5-0) earned her team-leading fifth win of the season, allowing two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out one in four innings. Starter Katie Love yielded three runs (one earned) on two hits, walking two and fanning two in three innings of work.
- Charlotte reliever Georgeanna Barefoot (4-1) sustained her first loss of the year, giving up three runs on five hits in four innings pitched. Brooke Bowling allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits, striking out one in the first two innings of the game.
- Mary Claire Wilson went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Rachel Roupe batted 2-for-3 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs. Sierra Kersten went 1-for-3 with two RBI.
- For Charlotte, Arianna Rodi batted 1-for-4, hitting her AAC-leading 10th homer of the season. Dirks batted 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Beyond the Box Score
- Charlotte is 18-9 all-time against Liberty in softball. However, the Lady Flames have won each of the last two meetings. Liberty earned a 2-1 win in eight innings at Charlotte last season.
- Liberty is now 2-5 against Top 25 teams this season, defeating No. 25 Penn State Feb. 23 and downing No. 21 Charlotte today. The Lady Flames hold a 6-8 all-time record against nationally-ranked opponents at Liberty Softball Stadium.
- Liberty is now 4-1 in one-run games this season.
- The Lady Flames have scored first in all 10 of their home games this season.
- Wilson hit her first home run of the season and 10th of her career. She also moved into 19th place in program history with 106 career runs scored.
- Kersten and Roupe are now tied for the team lead with 19 RBI apiece this year.
- Love had a streak of 15 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings snapped today. It is the second longest scoreless innings streak by a Liberty freshman. Sarah Swor holds the program freshman record with 19 straight scoreless innings, March 15-21, 2004.
Liberty heads to Huntsville, Texas, this weekend for a three-game Conference USA series at Sam Houston, Friday through Sunday.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Yoder, Kaylan (5-5)
L: G. Barefoot (4-1)
Batting:
2B: K. Garrett 1
HR: A. Rodi 1
RBI: A. Rodi 2 ; L. Dirks 2
Base Running:
RUNS: A. Rodi 1 ; C. Hoffler 2 ; O. Williams 1 ; T. Ritchie 1
SB: C. Wellen 1

Batting:
2B: Roupe, Rachel 2
HR: Wilson, Mary Claire 1
RBI: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 2 ; Kersten, Sierra 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Roupe, Rachel 2 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 2 ; Madrey, KK 1 ; Barrett, Raigan 1
SB: Madrey, KK 1
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