Sunday, April 7
Lynchburg, Va.
12:00 PM ET
Liberty University
22-16, 12-3
7
vs
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Western Kentucky
24-13-1, 10-5
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Western Kentucky
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Liberty
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7
9
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Liberty Rallies to Take Decisive Game 3 Victory From WKU, 7-5
4/7/2024 3:43:00 PM | Softball
LYNCHBURG, Va. - Liberty rallied back from 4-0 and 5-4 deficits, using a three-run fifth inning to jump ahead for a 7-5, series clinching victory over Western Kentucky, Sunday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
The Lady Flames (22-16, 12-3 CUSA) are now two games in front of WKU (24-13-1, 10-5) for first place in Conference USA standings after winning two out of three games in this weekend's series.
Scoring Summary
WKU – 1st INNING – Sanders homers to left center, 1-0
WKU – 2nd INNING – White homers to left center, 2-0
WKU – 3rd INNING – White reaches on error, Sales advances, Sanders and Webster score, 4-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Wilson doubles to left, Roupe and Heidorn score, 4-2
Liberty – 4th INNING – Kersten homers to left, Tuck scores, 4-4
WKU – 5th INNING – White singles to center, Sales advances, Sanders scores, 5-4
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner homers to right center, Wilson scores, 6-5
Liberty – 5th INNING – Craine singles, advances, Madrey advances, Barrett scores, 7-5
Turning Point
Liberty plays its next four games on the road, beginning on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as the Lady Flames compete at Virginia. The game has been moved to a 7 p.m. start time for ACC Network.
The Lady Flames (22-16, 12-3 CUSA) are now two games in front of WKU (24-13-1, 10-5) for first place in Conference USA standings after winning two out of three games in this weekend's series.
Scoring Summary
WKU – 1st INNING – Sanders homers to left center, 1-0
WKU – 2nd INNING – White homers to left center, 2-0
WKU – 3rd INNING – White reaches on error, Sales advances, Sanders and Webster score, 4-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Wilson doubles to left, Roupe and Heidorn score, 4-2
Liberty – 4th INNING – Kersten homers to left, Tuck scores, 4-4
WKU – 5th INNING – White singles to center, Sales advances, Sanders scores, 5-4
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner homers to right center, Wilson scores, 6-5
Liberty – 5th INNING – Craine singles, advances, Madrey advances, Barrett scores, 7-5
Turning Point
- Liberty trailed 4-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning before rallying into a tie. Mary Claire Wilson hit a two-run double in the third, before Sierra Kersten's two-run blast tied it at 4-4 in the fourth.
- WKU regained the lead on a two-out RBI single from Annie White in the top of the fifth. Liberty responded in the home half of the fifth, as Wilson drew a leadoff walk ahead of Megan Fortner's go-ahead two-run homer. The Lady Flames added an insurance run on an RBI infield single by Rachel Craine with two outs.
- Liberty outhit WKU 9-7 for the game. Both teams committed two errors and both squads left seven runners on base.
- Elena Escobar (6-2) earned a relief victory for the second day in a row. She allowed one unearned run on three hits, walking two and fanning five in 3 2/3 innings pitched. Katie Love got the final two outs, nailing down her second save. Liberty starter Kaylan Yoder gave up four runs, two earned, on four hits, striking out three in 2 2/3 innings of work.
- Hilltoppers' starter Katie Gardner (10-7) drew the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out four in 4 1/3 innings. Maddy Wood gave up one run on two hits without recording an out. Rylan Smith walked one and struck out one in 1 2/3 innings.
- Fortner went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and one run scored. Raigan Barrett batted 2-for-3 with one run scored. Sierra Kersten hit 1-for-3 with a homer, two RBI and one run scored. Mary Claire Wilson went 1-for-3 with a double, two RBI and one run scored.
- For WKU, CUSA home run leader Taylor Sanders batted 2-for-4 with a homer, one RBI and three runs, while Annie White went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and one run.
- Western Kentucky now leads the all-time series 4-2 against Liberty in softball.
- Today marked the first time this season that Liberty has won a game when its opponent scores in the first inning.
- Liberty trailed today's game 4-0. It marked the largest deficit Liberty has overcome in a win since April 7, 2023, when the Lady Flames trailed 7-0 and 9-5 and came back to win 12-9.
- Roupe became the 24th player in program history to score 100 career runs. Fortner has scored 99 runs in her career. Mary Claire Wilson is tied with Kelby Allen (2012-15) for 15th in program history with 110 career runs scored.
- Kersten's homer was her first since March 1 at Tulsa. It was her third of the season. Fortner has hit eight homers this year, one home run shy of Rachel Roupe's nine for the team lead.
- This was the first time since April 27-28, 2019 at North Alabama that Liberty played in a conference series in which the two teams split the first two games. North Alabama won games one and three of that series by 1-0 scores.
- The last time before today that Liberty won a deciding third game of a conference series was April 14, 2018, a 1-0 win at Radford.
Liberty plays its next four games on the road, beginning on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as the Lady Flames compete at Virginia. The game has been moved to a 7 p.m. start time for ACC Network.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Escobar, Elena (6-2)
L: Katie Gardner (10-7)
S: Love, Katie (2)
Batting:
HR: Taylor Sanders 1 ; Annie White 1
RBI: Taylor Sanders 1 ; Annie White 2
Base Running:
RUNS: TJ Webster 1 ; Taylor Sanders 3 ; Annie White 1
HBP: Cheyanne Sales 1
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Mary Claire 1
HR: Kersten, Sierra 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1
RBI: Kersten, Sierra 2 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 2 ; Fortner, Megan 2 ; Craine, Rachel 1
SH: Madrey, KK 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kersten, Sierra 1 ; Heidorn, Lilly 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1 ; Barrett, Raigan 1 ; Tuck, Maddy 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
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1
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2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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