Sunday, April 28
El Paso, Texas
12:00 PM ET/10:00 AM MT
Liberty University
31-19, 19-5
3
at
4
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
UTEP
24-17, 10-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Liberty
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
3
5
1
UTEP
0
0
1
0
1
0
2
4
5
1
UTEP Salvages Game 3 With 4-3 Walk-Off Victory Over Liberty
4/28/2024 3:07:00 PM | Softball
EL PASO, Texas – In a dramatic seventh inning that saw Liberty go ahead 3-2 in the top of the frame, UTEP scored twice in the home half to walk off with a 4-3 victory over the Lady Flames, Sunday at Helen of Troy Softball Complex.
UTEP (24-17, 10-11 Conference USA) has nearly secured a spot in the 2024 CUSA Softball Championship. Meanwhile, Liberty (31-19, 19-5 CUSA) won two out of three games this weekend in El Paso and has secured the No. 1 seed and Conference USA regular-season title.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Fortner doubles to right center, McManus scores, 1-0
UTEP – 3rd INNING – Richard singles to center, Morales scores, 1-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner doubles to left, Roupe scores, 2-1
UTEP – 5th INNING – Richard doubles to left center, Scott scores, 2-2
Liberty – 7th INNING – McManus flies out to center, sacrifice fly, Wilson scores, 3-2
UTEP – 7th INNING – Richard triples to right, Morales scores, 3-3
UTEP – 7th INNING – Collett singles to shortstop, Richard scores, 4-3
Turning Point
The Lady Flames finish out their regular-season schedule with four games against Top 25 programs. They begin the week with a home game against No. 13 Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before heading to Baton Rouge, La., for a three-game series at No. 6 LSU, Friday through Sunday.
UTEP (24-17, 10-11 Conference USA) has nearly secured a spot in the 2024 CUSA Softball Championship. Meanwhile, Liberty (31-19, 19-5 CUSA) won two out of three games this weekend in El Paso and has secured the No. 1 seed and Conference USA regular-season title.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Fortner doubles to right center, McManus scores, 1-0
UTEP – 3rd INNING – Richard singles to center, Morales scores, 1-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner doubles to left, Roupe scores, 2-1
UTEP – 5th INNING – Richard doubles to left center, Scott scores, 2-2
Liberty – 7th INNING – McManus flies out to center, sacrifice fly, Wilson scores, 3-2
UTEP – 7th INNING – Richard triples to right, Morales scores, 3-3
UTEP – 7th INNING – Collett singles to shortstop, Richard scores, 4-3
Turning Point
- With the game tied at 2-2, Mary Claire Wilson led off the seventh with a single before advancing to third on an error. Following Rachel Roupe's fourth walk of the day, Brynn McManus made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly. An inning-ending double play limited Liberty to one run in the frame.
- In the home half, Paige Bachman walked Lexi Morales to start. Liberty starting pitcher Elena Escobar then reentered the game. After a sacrifice bunt, Ajia Richard's RBI triple tied the game. The next batter, Marijn Crouwel, sent a bouncer to short and Richard raced home with the winning run.
- Both teams recorded five hits while committing one error apiece. Also, both Liberty and UTEP left seven runners on base. The Miners turned two double plays.
- UTEP's Faith Aragon (12-8) earned the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking seven and fanning two in the complete game effort.
- Elena Escobar (10-3) drew the loss, yielding two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out four in 3 1/3 total innings. Reliever Katie Love pitched two innings, giving up one run on two hits, with one walk and three strikeouts. Paige Bachman yielded one run in one relief inning, walking two and striking out one.
- Richard batted 3-for-4 with a double, triple, three RBI and one run scored for the Miners. Morales scored twice, drawing two walks.
- For Liberty, Megan Fortner went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Mary Claire Wilson batted 2-for-4 with one run scored, while Rachel Roupe drew four walks and scored once. Brynn McManus went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly, one RBI and one run scored.
- Liberty leads UTEP 3-1 in the all-time series, as the Lady Flames won the only previous meeting before this weekend, 4-3, on March 27, 2004.
- The Lady Flames won all eight of their Conference USA series this season, including three via sweep and five 2-1 series victories.
- Liberty is now 9-5 this season in one-run games.
- Liberty's 19 conference wins this season are the most by a Conference USA softball team since 2019, when Louisiana Tech won the regular-season title with a 19-5 league record. The Bulldogs went on to win the 2019 Conference USA Softball Championship and a berth in the Baton Rouge Regional.
- Roupe's four walks were the most drawn by a Lady Flame in a single game since Savannah Woodard's four walks at Eastern Kentucky, March 16, 2023.
- Roupe is now ranked seventh in program history with 73 career walks, passing former teammate Devyn Howard (2021-23) today. Roupe's 32 walks this year are the seventh most by a Lady Flame in a single season.
- Today marked Fortner's sixth career two-double game and first as a Lady Flame since joining Liberty last season as a transfer from Jax State.
- Fortner has now registered 48 career doubles and 132 career RBI, spanning her time at Jax State and Liberty.
The Lady Flames finish out their regular-season schedule with four games against Top 25 programs. They begin the week with a home game against No. 13 Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before heading to Baton Rouge, La., for a three-game series at No. 6 LSU, Friday through Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: ARAGON, Faith (12-8)
L: Escobar, Elena (10-3)
Batting:
2B: Fortner, Megan 2
RBI: McManus, Brynn 1 ; Fortner, Megan 2
SF: McManus, Brynn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; McManus, Brynn 1
HBP: Roberts, Brooke 1
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
2B: RICHARD, Ajia 1
3B: RICHARD, Ajia 1
RBI: RICHARD, Ajia 3 ; CROUWEL, Marijn 1
SH: HOGAN, Halle 1 ; SCOTT, Autumn 1 ; GARCIA, Bri 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MORALES, Lexi 2 ; SCOTT, Autumn 1 ; RICHARD, Ajia 1
HBP: HOGAN, Halle 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
0
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ 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