Friday, May 17
Athens, Ga.
1:00 PM ET
Liberty University
37-23
6
vs
3
Charlotte
38-20
1
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3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Liberty
0
0
0
5
1
0
0
6
6
1
Charlotte
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
3
5
3
Liberty Snaps No. 25 Charlotte’s Winning Streak, 6-3 in Athens Regional Opener
5/17/2024 4:44:00 PM | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. - Liberty used a five-run fourth inning to gain an advantage on No. 25 Charlotte on the way to a 6-3 victory over the 49ers in game one of the 2024 NCAA Athens Regional, Friday at Jack Turner Stadium.
Today's game was moved up two hours from its original 3 p.m. start time due to weather in the area. First pitch was thrown at 1:05 p.m.
The Lady Flames (37-23) pushed their winning streak to five games, advancing to tomorrow's winners' bracket game. Liberty will take on the winner of No. 11 national seed Georgia and UNCW tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Charlotte, who entered the week with a 16-game winning streak and was ranked No. 25 by Softball America, fell to 38-17 on the season. The 49ers will compete in an elimination game tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. against the loser of today's contest between Georgia and UNCW.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 4th INNING – Roberts doubles to left center, Barrett scores, 1-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Roupe singles to right, advances on error, Wilson advances, McManus and Roberts score, 3-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Kersten doubles down the right field line, Roupe and Wilson score, 5-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Craine doubles to center, Madrey scores, 6-0
Charlotte – 5th INNING – Blackwell homers to left, 6-1
Charlotte – 6th INNING – Garrett homers to right center, 6-2
Charlotte – 7th INNING – Dirks doubles to left, Mitchell scores, 6-3
Turning Point
Today's game was moved up two hours from its original 3 p.m. start time due to weather in the area. First pitch was thrown at 1:05 p.m.
The Lady Flames (37-23) pushed their winning streak to five games, advancing to tomorrow's winners' bracket game. Liberty will take on the winner of No. 11 national seed Georgia and UNCW tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Charlotte, who entered the week with a 16-game winning streak and was ranked No. 25 by Softball America, fell to 38-17 on the season. The 49ers will compete in an elimination game tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. against the loser of today's contest between Georgia and UNCW.
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 4th INNING – Roberts doubles to left center, Barrett scores, 1-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Roupe singles to right, advances on error, Wilson advances, McManus and Roberts score, 3-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Kersten doubles down the right field line, Roupe and Wilson score, 5-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Craine doubles to center, Madrey scores, 6-0
Charlotte – 5th INNING – Blackwell homers to left, 6-1
Charlotte – 6th INNING – Garrett homers to right center, 6-2
Charlotte – 7th INNING – Dirks doubles to left, Mitchell scores, 6-3
Turning Point
- Raigan Barrett sparked Liberty's five-run fourth inning, reaching on an error to lead off. Brooke Roberts' RBI double got the scoring started. Charlotte's Sam Gress walked the next two batters, loading the bases for Rachel Roupe. The Liberty junior singled to right, with two runs scoring. Relief pitcher Georgeanna Barefoot came on to face Sierra Kersten, whose two-run double made it 5-0.
- Trailing 6-0 after a Rachel Craine RBI double, Charlotte scored once each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. However, Liberty's Elena Escobar finished off the complete-game win by getting Abigail Knight to ground out to third for the final out.
- Liberty outhit Charlotte 6-5 for the game. The 49ers committed three errors compared to one for the Lady Flames. Liberty left seven runners on base, while Charlotte stranded three.
- Making her first NCAA postseason appearance, Escobar (15-5) earned the win, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four.
- Gress (14-9) drew the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits, walking five and fanning four in 3 1/3 innings. Barefoot yielded one run on three hits, with one walk and two strikeouts.
- Six different Lady Flames had hits, in Mary Claire Wilson (1-for-3, double, run), Rachel Roupe (1-for-3, RBI, run), Sierra Kersten (1-for-3, double, 2 RBI), KK Madrey (1-for-4, run), Brooke Roberts (1-for-2, double, RBI, run) and Rachel Craine (1-for-2, double, RBI). Madrey and Wilson both also made highlight-reel catches in the field.
- For Charlotte, Kiyah Garrett and Makalah Mitchell both hit solo homers, while London Dirks went 1-for-1 with an RBI double.
- Liberty has won both meetings against Charlotte so far this season, including a 6-5 victory over the 49ers on March 20 in Lynchburg.
- Liberty is now 5-9 against Top 25 teams this season, topping last year's four nationally-ranked wins for the most Top 25 victories in a single season in program history.
- Liberty is 8-8 in NCAA Regional play under current Head Coach Dot Richardson and 8-12 all-time. This is the third time Liberty has won its Regional opener (also 2018 and 2022).
- The Lady Flames' five runs in the fourth inning tied their most in a single inning in Regional play. Liberty scored five runs in the second inning of a 5-1 win over Eastern Kentucky at the 2021 Knoxville Regional.
- Liberty's six runs scored today tie a program record for most runs in a Regional game (also in a 6-4 win at Tennessee in 2021).
- Charlotte was the 2023 Conference USA regular-season champion, and won the AAC Championship this season. The Lady Flames won both the CUSA regular-season and tournament titles this year.
- Liberty's four doubles are its most in an NCAA Regional contest.
- Roupe has tied Jessica Moore's (2007) single-season program record with 46 walks this season.
- Escobar is the fourth Lady Flame to earn an NCAA Regional game victory, joining Julia DiMartino, Karlie Keeney and Emily Kirby.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Escobar, Elena (15-5)
L: GRESS, Sam (14-9)
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; Kersten, Sierra 1 ; Roberts, Brooke 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
RBI: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Kersten, Sierra 2 ; Roberts, Brooke 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
SH: Roberts, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Barrett, Raigan 1 ; Madrey, KK 1 ; Roberts, Brooke 1 ; McManus, Brynn 1
CS: Barrett, Raigan 1
Batting:
2B: DIRKS, London 1
HR: GARRETT, Kiyah 1 ; BLACKWELL, Rayna 1
RBI: GARRETT, Kiyah 1 ; BLACKWELL, Rayna 1 ; DIRKS, London 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GARRETT, Kiyah 1 ; MITCHELL, Makalah 1 ; BLACKWELL, Rayna 1
CS: CHANCEY, Ella 1
HBP: WASHINGTON, Ashleigh 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
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INF
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OF
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