Wednesday, April 3
Blacksburg, Va.
6:00 PM ET
Liberty University
20-15
5
at
6
Virginia Tech
26-8-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Liberty
0
0
0
0
1
3
1
5
12
0
Virginia Tech
1
2
0
0
0
3
X
6
8
0
No. 13 Virginia Tech Wins 6-5 Over Liberty in Back-and-Forth Battle
4/3/2024 9:20:00 PM | Softball
BLACKSBURG, Va. -Â In a game in which the lead changed hands twice in the sixth inning, No. 13 Virginia Tech hit two sixth-inning homers and held on for a 6-5 win over Liberty, Wednesday at Tech Softball Park.
The Hokies improve to 26-8-1 on the season. Virginia Tech snapped a three-game losing streak, as the Hokies got swept at Duke on the weekend. The Lady Flames fall to 20-15 while seeing their three-game winning streak end. Â
Â
Scoring Summary
Virginia Tech – 1st INNING – McMillan flies out to center, sac fly, Greene scores, 1-0
Virginia Tech – 2nd INNING – Louko homers to left center. 2-0
Virginia Tech – 2nd INNING – Aldridge homers to center, 3-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Wilson singles up the middle, Roupe advances, Heidorn scores, 3-1
Liberty – 6th INNING – Craine singles to left, Norris advances, Madrey scores, 3-2
Liberty – 6th INNING – Roupe doubles to right center, Tuck and Norris score, 4-3
Virginia Tech – 6th INNING – Aldridge homers to center, 4-4
Virginia Tech – 6th INNING – Ritter homers to right center, 6-4
Liberty – 7th INNING – McManus singles up the middle, Fortner scores, 6-5
Â
Turning Point
The Lady Flames return home, where they will host Western Kentucky, Friday through Sunday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium. Liberty enters the weekend as the CUSA leader with a 10-2 conference record, while WKU is second at 9-3.
Â
The Hokies improve to 26-8-1 on the season. Virginia Tech snapped a three-game losing streak, as the Hokies got swept at Duke on the weekend. The Lady Flames fall to 20-15 while seeing their three-game winning streak end. Â
Â
Scoring Summary
Virginia Tech – 1st INNING – McMillan flies out to center, sac fly, Greene scores, 1-0
Virginia Tech – 2nd INNING – Louko homers to left center. 2-0
Virginia Tech – 2nd INNING – Aldridge homers to center, 3-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Wilson singles up the middle, Roupe advances, Heidorn scores, 3-1
Liberty – 6th INNING – Craine singles to left, Norris advances, Madrey scores, 3-2
Liberty – 6th INNING – Roupe doubles to right center, Tuck and Norris score, 4-3
Virginia Tech – 6th INNING – Aldridge homers to center, 4-4
Virginia Tech – 6th INNING – Ritter homers to right center, 6-4
Liberty – 7th INNING – McManus singles up the middle, Fortner scores, 6-5
Â
Turning Point
- Trailing 3-1 in the top of the sixth inning, Liberty rallied to take the lead. Relief pitcher Emma Mazzarone walked both batters she saw. Emma Lemley then entered the circle. Rachel Craine's RBI single narrowed the gap to 3-2. Rachel Roupe put Liberty ahead with a two-out, two-run double.
- Virginia Tech answered with three runs of its own in the home half of the sixth. Kylie Aldridge tied the game with a solo home run. Two batters later, Emma Ritter's two-run home run gave the hosts a 6-4 lead.
- Liberty scored quickly in the top of the seventh. Megan Fortner led off with a double before scoring on an RBI single by Brynn McManus. Lemley bore down from there, retiring the final three batters.
- Liberty outhit Virginia Tech 12-8 for the game. The Lady Flames left nine runners on base, while the Hokies stranded six.
- Lemley (7-2) earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out three in two innings of relief. Virginia Tech starter Lyndsey Grein yielded one run on eight hits, walking one and fanning four in five innings.
- Escobar (4-2) drew the loss, allowing three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out seven in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Katie Love gave up three runs in one inning as the starter. Kaylan Yoder retired both batters she saw in relief.
- Kylie Aldridge went 2-for-3 with two homers, two RBI and two runs scored. Emma Ritter batted 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and one run scored. Maija Louko (1-for-3) also homered.
- Rachel Roupe went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, her sixth three-hit game of the season. Sierra Kersten batted 2-for-3 in her first career game as Liberty's leadoff batter. KK Madrey went 2-for-3 with a double, one stolen base and one run scored.
- Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 41-16 against Liberty, with the Hokies winning each of the last five meetings.
- Liberty is 0-7 this season when its opponent scores in the first inning.
- Virginia Tech's run in the first inning tonight snapped a 24-inning shutout streak by the Lady Flames' pitching. Their last run allowed before tonight came in the fifth inning against Virginia last Wednesday.
- Yoder has not allowed a run in her last 16 2/3 innings pitched.
- Madrey extended her hitting streak to nine games, while Kersten's hitting streak now stands at seven. Fortner has reached base safely in each of her last 10 games.
- Kersten is the first Liberty softball player to bat leadoff in a game in which she also started at catcher since Devyn Howard did so, Feb. 26, 2023 against Marshall.
- Virginia Tech's four homers tonight tie the most that Liberty has allowed in a game this season (also March 12 vs. Duke). The Hokies entered the game ranked third in the nation with 2.12 home runs per game.
- Liberty is now 2-6 against Top 25 programs this season. The Lady Flames' 12 hits tonight are the most in program history against a nationally-ranked opponent.
- Fortner and Roupe are tied for second among active Lady Flames (trailing Mary Claire Wilson) with 98 career runs scored apiece.
The Lady Flames return home, where they will host Western Kentucky, Friday through Sunday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium. Liberty enters the weekend as the CUSA leader with a 10-2 conference record, while WKU is second at 9-3.
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Emma Lemley (7-2)
L: Escobar, Elena (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1 ; Madrey, KK 1
RBI: Roupe, Rachel 2 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; McManus, Brynn 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
SH: Barrett, Raigan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Heidorn, Lilly 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1 ; Madrey, KK 1 ; Norris, Aubry 1 ; Tuck, Maddy 1
SB: Madrey, KK 1 ; Roberts, Brooke 1
Batting:
HR: Emma Ritter 1 ; Maija Louko 1 ; Kylie Aldridge 2
RBI: Emma Ritter 2 ; Cori McMillan 1 ; Maija Louko 1 ; Kylie Aldridge 2
SF: Cori McMillan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Emma Ritter 1 ; Addy Greene 1 ; Maija Louko 1 ; Kylie Aldridge 2 ; Annika Rohs 1
SB: Cori McMillan 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ 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