Friday, March 8
Miami, Fla.
6:00 PM ET
Liberty University
10-10, 0
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FIU
11-13, 0
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Yoder's Pitching, Deter's Blast Lead Liberty Past FIU 2-1
3/8/2024 8:27:00 PM | Softball
MIAMI, Fla. – Liberty received stellar pitching from freshman Kaylan Yoder, and a sixth-inning pinch-hit homer by Hailey Deter provided the winning margin as the Lady Flames edged FIU, 2-1, in both teams' Conference USA opener, Friday at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
The Lady Flames (10-10) opened their initial Conference USA schedule with a victory, while FIU falls to 11-13, 0-1 in CUSA play with its third loss in a row.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Fortner flies out to center, sacrifice fly, Wilson scores, 1-0
FIU – 3rd INNING – Navarro flies out to left, sacrifice fly, Downing scores, 1-1
Liberty – 6th INNING – Deter homers to right, 2-1
Turning Point
Liberty and FIU will contest game two of this weekend's series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
The Lady Flames (10-10) opened their initial Conference USA schedule with a victory, while FIU falls to 11-13, 0-1 in CUSA play with its third loss in a row.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Fortner flies out to center, sacrifice fly, Wilson scores, 1-0
FIU – 3rd INNING – Navarro flies out to left, sacrifice fly, Downing scores, 1-1
Liberty – 6th INNING – Deter homers to right, 2-1
Turning Point
- With the score tied at 1-1, Liberty pinch hitter Hailey Deter led off the sixth inning by smashing the first pitch she saw for a solo home run.
- FIU rallied in the bottom of the seventh, as Yoder hit Ashton Lansdell with a pitch and walked Kaleena Downing. In a matchup of the last two CUSA Freshman of the Week honorees, Yoder got Kally Meredith to swing through a 3-2 rise ball to clinch the win for the Lady Flames.
- FIU outhit Liberty 4-3 for the game. The Panthers left six runners on base, compared to just one stranded for Liberty.
- Yoder (3-4) earned her first collegiate complete-game victory, going a full seven innings for the first time in her young Liberty career. She struck out seven, walked three and yielded four hits and just one run.
- FIU's Alina Varga (2-3) drew the tough-luck loss, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out three against no walks.
- For Liberty, Deter went 1-for-1 with her first career homer, one RBI and one run scored. Mary Claire Wilson batted 1-for-3 with a double and one run while Megan Fortner added a sacrifice fly.
- Downing went 2-for-2 with a double and one run scored for the Panthers. Makayla Navarro walked twice and had a sacrifice fly for FIU.
- The Lady Flames and Panthers are meeting for the first time this weekend.
- This is the second time current Liberty Head Coach Dot Richardson and current FIU Head Coach Mike Larabee have met as head coaches. On Feb. 13, 2015, Richardson's Lady Flames defeated Larabee's Arkansas Razorbacks, 5-2, for Liberty's first-ever softball win over an SEC program. Current Liberty associate head coach Kasey Fagan was a senior shortstop for the Razorbacks and Coach Larabee in that game.
- The Lady Flames are now 8-1 in their last nine conference openers, winning their league-opening game for the fourth year in a row. Liberty has opened conference play on the road each of the last five seasons.
- Yoder is the first Liberty freshman pitcher since Chase Cassady, March 28, 2016 at Winthrop, to start in the team's conference opener. Prior to tonight, the last Liberty freshman to earn a win in the first league game of the year was Ali Thompson at Elon, April 6, 2001.
- Deter's first career homer was the first pinch-hit home run by a Liberty player since Emily Sweat, March 20, 2021 at Bellarmine.
- Deter has pinch-hit RBI hits in each of her last two games, beginning with an RBI single against Louisiana on Sunday.
- A total of 13 current Lady Flames have now hit at least one career collegiate home run.
Liberty and FIU will contest game two of this weekend's series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Yoder, Kaylan (3-4)
L: VARGA, Alina (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Mary Claire 1
HR: Deter, Hailey 1
RBI: Fortner, Megan 1 ; Deter, Hailey 1
SF: Fortner, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; Deter, Hailey 1
SB: Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; Madrey, KK 1
CS: Madrey, KK 1
HBP: Jessee, Savannah 1
Batting:
2B: DOWNING, Kaleena 1
RBI: NAVARRO, Makayla 1
SH: MEREDITH, Kally 1
SF: NAVARRO, Makayla 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DOWNING, Kaleena 1
CS: NAVARRO, Makayla 1
HBP: LANSDELL, Ashton 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P/OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
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