Sunday, April 14
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
1:00 PM ET/12:00 PM CT
Liberty University
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Liberty Works Extra Time to Complete Sweep, Tops MTSU 4-3 in 9 Innings
4/14/2024 4:34:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Liberty senior Megan Fortner's two-out, two-strike solo home run in the top of the ninth inning pushed the Lady Flames past Middle Tennessee for a 4-3 win, securing a series sweep, Sunday at Blue Raider Softball Field.
The Lady Flames (26-16, 15-3) continue to lead Conference USA standings, winning their sixth game in a row. Meanwhile, the Blue Raiders fall to 18-27, 5-13 in conference play.
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Scoring Summary
MTSU – 1st INNING – Blevins homers to left, Echols scores, 2-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Craine hit by pitch, Jessee and Roberts advance, Barrett scores, 2-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Kersten flies out to left, sac fly, Roberts scores, 2-2
MTSU – 4th INNING – Medlock doubles to left, Jacoway scores, 3-2
Liberty – 6th INNING – Jessee flies out to center, sac fly, Barrett scores, 3-3
Liberty – 9th INNING – Fortner homers to center, 4-3
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Turning Point
The Lady Flames play each of their next four games at home, beginning on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against North Carolina at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
The Lady Flames (26-16, 15-3) continue to lead Conference USA standings, winning their sixth game in a row. Meanwhile, the Blue Raiders fall to 18-27, 5-13 in conference play.
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Scoring Summary
MTSU – 1st INNING – Blevins homers to left, Echols scores, 2-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Craine hit by pitch, Jessee and Roberts advance, Barrett scores, 2-1
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Kersten flies out to left, sac fly, Roberts scores, 2-2
MTSU – 4th INNING – Medlock doubles to left, Jacoway scores, 3-2
Liberty – 6th INNING – Jessee flies out to center, sac fly, Barrett scores, 3-3
Liberty – 9th INNING – Fortner homers to center, 4-3
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Turning Point
- MTSU nearly pulled off the win in the bottom of the seventh. Lexi Medlock reached on an error to start the attempted rally. A sacrifice bunt sent her to second, and Medlock went to third after Sierra Kersten threw to first to complete a strikeout. Elena Escobar fanned Shelby Sargent for the third out, stranding the winning run 60 feet away.
- With two outs and a 2-2 count in the top of the ninth, Fortner smashed a solo home run to center field, giving Liberty a 4-3 lead. In the home half, Escobar walked the first batter, but retired the next three, including a strikeout of Ava Brooks to clinch the sweep.Â
- Liberty outhit MTSU 6-5 for the game. The Lady Flames committed three errors, while the Blue Raiders turned on double play. The guests left 10 runners on base, compared to five stranded for the home team. Â
- Escobar (8-2) earned the win for the second day in a row, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out seven in five relief innings. Liberty starter Katie Love allowed three runs on four hits in four innings, posting two strikeouts.
- Mary Martinez (3-5) drew the loss for MTSU, yielding two runs on five hits, walking three and fanning two in eight innings of relief. Blue Raider starter Claire Woods lasted one inning, giving up two runs on one hit, with three walks and two strikeouts.
- Brooke Roberts recorded her first three-hit game as a Lady Flame, going 3-for-3 with a double and one run scored. Fortner (1-for-3) hit her team-leading 10th homer of the season. Raigan Barrett batted 1-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. Liberty converted two sacrifice flies, courtesy of Sierra Kersten and Savannah Jessee.
- Shelby Echols went 2-for-4 with one run scored for Middle Tennessee, while Ansley Blevins batted 1-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and one run scored. She hit her 13th homer of the year. Medlock hit 1-for-4 with a double and one RBI.
- Liberty leads the all-time series against Middle Tennessee in softball 6-3, as the Lady Flames have won the last five 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, 39 homers and 130 RBI. She is tied with Rachel Roupe for the team lead with nine homers this season. Â
- So far this season, eight out of Fortner's 10 homers have come in the fifth inning or later.
- Fortner is one of seven players in program history with back-to-back 10-home run seasons.
- Escobar has earned the win in each of her last four appearances, including two victories in each of the last two conference series (also versus WKU last weekend).
- Kersten ties Rachel Craine for the team lead with three sacrifice flies for the year.
- Liberty is 1-1 this season in extra-inning games and 7-3 in one-run games.
- The Lady Flames have won all six conference series so far this season, including three sweeps. This weekend was Liberty's first road sweep in Conference USA play.
- Liberty has tied its longest winning streak of the year, with six victories in a row. The Lady Flames have now posted three six-game winning streaks in 2024.
The Lady Flames play each of their next four games at home, beginning on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against North Carolina at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Escobar, Elena (8-2)
L: MARTINEZ, Mary (3-5)
Batting:
2B: Roberts, Brooke 1
3B: Barrett, Raigan 1
HR: Fortner, Megan 1
RBI: Kersten, Sierra 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1 ; Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
SF: Jessee, Savannah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fortner, Megan 1 ; Barrett, Raigan 2 ; Roberts, Brooke 1
SB: Fortner, Megan 1
HBP: Roberts, Brooke 1 ; Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
Batting:
2B: MEDLOCK, Lexi 1
HR: BLEVINS, Ansley 1
RBI: BLEVINS, Ansley 2 ; MEDLOCK, Lexi 1
SH: Tepe, Ava 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ECHOLS, Shelby 1 ; BLEVINS, Ansley 1 ; JACOWAY, Ashlee 1
Game Leaders
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Players Mentioned
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