Saturday, April 13
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
5:00 PM ET/4:00 PM CT
Liberty University
25-16, 14-3
5
at
1
Middle Tennessee
18-26, 5-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Liberty
2
1
0
0
0
2
0
5
8
0
Middle Tennesee
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
2
Lady Flames Earn Series Win, Defeat MTSU 5-1
4/13/2024 7:54:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Liberty softball team homered in the first two innings and junior Elena Escobar silenced Middle Tennessee's bats during a 5-1 win, Saturday at Blue Raider Softball Field.
The Conference USA-leading Lady Flames (25-16, 14-3 CUSA) earned their fifth win in a row, while the Blue Raiders fell to 18-26, 5-12 in conference play. The Lady Flames have now won all six of their Conference USA series and will attempt to sweep MTSU tomorrow.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Fortner homers to right, Deter scores, 2-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Barrett homers to left, 3-0
MTSU – 3rd INNING – Sargent bunts for single, Medlock scores, 3-1
Liberty – 6th INNING – McManus doubles to right center, Barrett and Madrey score, 5-1
Turning Point
\The Lady Flames and Blue Raiders conclude their three-game series tomorrow with a game set for 1 p.m. Eastern time.
The Conference USA-leading Lady Flames (25-16, 14-3 CUSA) earned their fifth win in a row, while the Blue Raiders fell to 18-26, 5-12 in conference play. The Lady Flames have now won all six of their Conference USA series and will attempt to sweep MTSU tomorrow.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Fortner homers to right, Deter scores, 2-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Barrett homers to left, 3-0
MTSU – 3rd INNING – Sargent bunts for single, Medlock scores, 3-1
Liberty – 6th INNING – McManus doubles to right center, Barrett and Madrey score, 5-1
Turning Point
- The Lady Flames got all of the scoring they needed in the top of the first, rallying with two outs. Hailey Deter doubled before Megan Fortner slammed a two-run homer to right. Liberty added one run in the second on Raigan Barrett's solo shot.
- Middle Tennessee scored on a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the third, the only blemish on a two-hit outing by Liberty's Elena Escobar.
- Liberty outhit MTSU 8-2 for the game. The Blue Raiders committed two errors and turned one double play. The Lady Flames left seven runners on base, while Middle Tennessee stranded two.
- Escobar (7-2) allowed one run on two hits, tying her career high with 10 strikeouts.
- Kamryn Carcich (12-14) was the losing pitcher for the second game in a row, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out two in five innings. Claire Woods walked one and fanned two in two hitless innings of relief.
- Eight different Lady Flames had one hit apiece. Fortner (homer) and Brynn McManus (double) both recorded two RBI, while Raigan Barrett homered, had one RBI and two runs scored. Hailey Deter doubled and scored.
- Lexi Medlock went 1-for-2 with a double and one run scored for MTSU, while Shelby Sargent batted 1-for-2 with one RBI.
- Liberty leads the all-time series against Middle Tennessee in softball 5-3, as the Lady Flames have won the last four meetings.
- Middle Tennessee won the 2023 CUSA Softball Championship before advancing to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional final. MTSU is one of 12 teams on Liberty's schedules who competed in the 2023 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
- Fortner leads all active Lady Flames with 45 career doubles, 38 homers and 129 RBI. She is tied with Rachel Roupe for the team lead with nine homers this season.
- Barrett hit her first home run since Feb. 20, 2022 against South Alabama. She is one of 11 different Lady Flames to homer so far this season.
- Escobar has earned the win in each of her last three appearances, including two wins in the Western Kentucky series last year.
\The Lady Flames and Blue Raiders conclude their three-game series tomorrow with a game set for 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Escobar, Elena (7-2)
L: CARCICH, Kamryn (12-14)
Batting:
2B: Deter, Hailey 1 ; McManus, Brynn 1
HR: Fortner, Megan 1 ; Barrett, Raigan 1
RBI: Fortner, Megan 2 ; Barrett, Raigan 1 ; McManus, Brynn 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Deter, Hailey 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1 ; Madrey, KK 1 ; Barrett, Raigan 2
SB: Wilson, Mary Claire 1
Batting:
2B: MEDLOCK, Lexi 1
RBI: SARGENT, Shelby 1
SH: BROOKS, Ava 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MEDLOCK, Lexi 1
HBP: HARRIS, Amaya 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballCoach Richardson, Elena Escobar & Rachel Roupe Talk About The Game Against Oregon
Sunday, May 25
Coach Richardson, Rachel Roupe & Paige Doerr Talk About The Game Against Oregon
Saturday, May 24
Lady Flames Softball Podcast: Breaking Down Liberty vs. Oregon, Rachel Roupe Drafted and More!
Thursday, May 22
Coach Richardson Talks About Preparing For Oregon
Tuesday, May 20