Sunday, May 19
Athens, Ga.
1:00 PM ET
Liberty University
38-24
5
at
14
Georgia
42-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Georgia
2
0
2
5
3
0
2
14
17
0
Liberty
0
0
0
4
1
0
0
5
9
2
No. 11 Georgia Earns Super Regional Berth With 3-2 Walk-Off Win Over Liberty
5/19/2024 8:12:00 PM | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. -Â The No. 11 national seed Georgia won both games in this afternoon's Athens Regional final round, culminating in a 3-2, walk-off win over Liberty on Sunday at Jack Turner Stadium.
Georgia (43-17) needed to beat Liberty twice today to advance to Super Regionals, as the Lady Flames opened their Regional with wins over Charlotte (6-3, Friday) and Georgia (7-3, Saturday). The Bulldogs earned a 14-5 win over the Lady Flames in game one today to set up a winner-take-all Regional final.
The Lady Flames (38-25) came within one out of their first-ever Super Regional appearance, leading Georgia 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh before the Bulldogs scored twice to walk it off.
Georgia will compete in the Super Regional round against the winner of the Los Angeles Regional, which pits No. 6 national seed UCLA and Grand Canyon against each other in the final tonight. Â
Â
Game 1 – Georgia 14, Liberty 5
Scoring Summary
Georgia – 1st INNING – Kearney homers to left, 1-0
Georgia – 1st INNING – Davis reaches on error, advances to second, Mosley scores, 2-0
Georgia – 3rd INNING – Davis homers to right center, Mosley scores, 4-0
Georgia – 4th INNING – Digby homers to right center, Goodwin scores, 6-0
Georgia – 4th INNING – Chambley homers to left, Goodnight scores, 8-0
Georgia – 4th INNING – Davis doubles to right, Eaton scores, 9-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Roberts singles to left, Madrey advances, Heidorn scores, 9-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Craine homers to left, Madrey and Roberts score, 9-4
Georgia – 5th INNING – Chambley singles to center, advances on error, Goodnight advances, Armistead scores, 10-4
Georgia – 5th INNING – Kearney doubles to right center, Chambley and Goodnight score, 12-4
Liberty – 5th INNING – Jessee homers to left, 12-5
Georgia – 7th INNING – Chambley homers to left center, 13-5
Georgia – 7th INNING – Mosley homers to left, 14-5
Â
Turning Point
Georgia 3, Liberty 2
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 4th INNING – Jessee doubles to left, Heidorn scores, 1-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Roberts homers to right center, 2-0
Georgia – 6th INNING – Davis flies out to center, Castori advances to second, Chambley advances to third, scores on error, 2-1
Georgia – 7th INNING – Goodnight singles to center, advances to second on throw, Digby scores, 2-2
Georgia – 7th INNING – Chambley singles to center, Goodnight scores, 3-2
Â
Turning Point
Georgia (43-17) needed to beat Liberty twice today to advance to Super Regionals, as the Lady Flames opened their Regional with wins over Charlotte (6-3, Friday) and Georgia (7-3, Saturday). The Bulldogs earned a 14-5 win over the Lady Flames in game one today to set up a winner-take-all Regional final.
The Lady Flames (38-25) came within one out of their first-ever Super Regional appearance, leading Georgia 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh before the Bulldogs scored twice to walk it off.
Georgia will compete in the Super Regional round against the winner of the Los Angeles Regional, which pits No. 6 national seed UCLA and Grand Canyon against each other in the final tonight. Â
Â
Game 1 – Georgia 14, Liberty 5
Scoring Summary
Georgia – 1st INNING – Kearney homers to left, 1-0
Georgia – 1st INNING – Davis reaches on error, advances to second, Mosley scores, 2-0
Georgia – 3rd INNING – Davis homers to right center, Mosley scores, 4-0
Georgia – 4th INNING – Digby homers to right center, Goodwin scores, 6-0
Georgia – 4th INNING – Chambley homers to left, Goodnight scores, 8-0
Georgia – 4th INNING – Davis doubles to right, Eaton scores, 9-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Roberts singles to left, Madrey advances, Heidorn scores, 9-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Craine homers to left, Madrey and Roberts score, 9-4
Georgia – 5th INNING – Chambley singles to center, advances on error, Goodnight advances, Armistead scores, 10-4
Georgia – 5th INNING – Kearney doubles to right center, Chambley and Goodnight score, 12-4
Liberty – 5th INNING – Jessee homers to left, 12-5
Georgia – 7th INNING – Chambley homers to left center, 13-5
Georgia – 7th INNING – Mosley homers to left, 14-5
Â
Turning Point
- Georgia scored early and often in the game, building a 9-0 lead after a five-run fourth inning. The Lady Flames responded, battling back to within 9-4 on in the fourth as Brooke Roberts hit an RBI single and Rachel Craine launched a three-run homer.
- Georgia extended its lead to 12-4 in the fifth. Savannah Jessee's fifth-inning solo homer extended the game.Â
- Georgia outhit Liberty 17-9 for the game, while the Lady Flames committed two errors. The Lady Flames left 10 runners on base compared to six stranded for the Bulldogs.
- Lilli Backes (17-6) earned the win, allowing one run on three hits, walking one and striking out three in 3 1/3 innings pitched. Bulldog starter Madison Kerpics yielded four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out two in 3 2/3 innings.
- Elena Escobar (16-6) drew the loss, yielding six runs (five earned) on seven hits, walking one and fanning three in three innings. Kaylan Yoder allowed three runs on 2/3 of an inning before Katie Love finished the game with five runs allowed in 3 1/3 innings.
- Sydney Chambley batted 4-for-5 with two homers, three RBI and three runs scored, while Lyndi Rae Davis went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, three RBI and one run scored. Jayda Kearney batted 3-for-5 with a double, homer, three RBI and one run. Sara Mosley (2-for-4) and Emily Digby (2-for-4) also homered, as Georgia hit six home runs.
- Rachel Craine batted 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBI and one run for Liberty, while Savannah Jessee went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, one RBI and one run. Brynn McManus batted 2-for-3 with a double.
- Georgia's six home runs in game one were the most by a Liberty opponent this season.
- Craine and Jessee became the 10th and 11th Lady Flames to homer in NCAA Regional play all-time.
- Craine's homer was the first three-run homer by a Liberty player in NCAA Regional action.Â
Georgia 3, Liberty 2
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 4th INNING – Jessee doubles to left, Heidorn scores, 1-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Roberts homers to right center, 2-0
Georgia – 6th INNING – Davis flies out to center, Castori advances to second, Chambley advances to third, scores on error, 2-1
Georgia – 7th INNING – Goodnight singles to center, advances to second on throw, Digby scores, 2-2
Georgia – 7th INNING – Chambley singles to center, Goodnight scores, 3-2
Â
Turning Point
- Liberty led Georgia 2-0 after Brooke Roberts' solo homer in the top of the fifth.
- The Bulldogs made several outstanding defensive plays from that point on to keep the Lady Flames at two runs.
- Georgia scored an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Liberty entered the bottom of the seventh with a 2-1 lead. KK Madrey made a leaping catch to rob the leadoff batter of extra bases. Emily Digby then singled to center. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second with two outs. Liberty was one out away from Super Regionals when Dallis Goodnight hit a bouncer just past the glove of pitcher Elena Escobar, scoring Digby. The next pitch ended the game, as Chambley played Goodnight with a base hit to the gap.
- Georgia outhit Liberty 6-4 for the game. The Lady Flames committed one error. The Bulldogs left six runners on base compared to two stranded for Liberty.
- Lilli Backes (18-6) earned the win for the second game in a row today, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out two in the complete game.
- Elena Escobar (16-7) drew the tough-luck loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits, walking two and tying her career high with 10 strikeouts. Escobar fanned seven out of the first nine batters she faced.
- Emily Digby went 2-for-3 with one run scored, while Dallis Goodnight and Sydney Chambley both had one RBI and one run scored.
- For Liberty, Brooke Roberts went 1-for-2 with her sixth homer of the season and second of the Regional, recording one RBI and one run scored. Savannah Jessee doubled and drove in one run, while Brynn McManus doubled and Raigan Barrett went 1-for-3.
- The Lady Flames were competing in their fourth NCAA Regional final in the last six years and second in a row. This was the second time that Liberty had opened a Regional with a 2-0 record, as the Lady Flames won their first two games at the 2018 Columbia Regional before falling twice to South Carolina on Regional final Sunday.
- Liberty is now 2-3 all-time against Georgia in softball, with all three meetings coming in NCAA Regional play. These two teams split a pair of meetings at the 2022 Durham Regional. Â
- Liberty went 6-11 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 9-10 in NCAA Regional play under current Head Coach Dot Richardson and 9-14 all-time. This weekend was the fourth time Liberty has beaten a Regional host (South Carolina in 2018, Tennessee in 2021, UCLA in 2023, Georgia in 2024).
- Georgia is making its 13th appearance in Super Regional and second in a row.
- Liberty was the first team since WKU in 2015 to win the Conference USA Championship in its first year in the conference. That year, WKU also started 2-0 at the Athens Regional before falling twice to Georgia on Sunday.
- Fortner became the third player in program history with an NCAA postseason triple, joining Madison Via (2018 vs. Hofstra) and Mary Claire Wilson (2023 vs. Grand Canyon).
- Roberts is the fourth Lady Flame with multiple homers in a Regional, joining Amber Bishop-Riley (3 in 2021), Rachel Roupe (2 in 2023) and Megan Fortner (2 in 2023).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Backes, Lilli (17-6)
L: Escobar, Elena (16-6)
Batting:
2B: Kearney, Jayda 1 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 1
HR: Chambley, Sydney 2 ; Kearney, Jayda 1 ; Mosley, Sara 1 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 1 ; Digby, Emily 1
RBI: Chambley, Sydney 3 ; Kearney, Jayda 3 ; Mosley, Sara 1 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 3 ; Digby, Emily 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Goodnight, Dallis 2 ; Chambley, Sydney 3 ; Kearney, Jayda 1 ; Eaton, Hayley 1 ; Mosley, Sara 3 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 1 ; Goodwin, Jaydyn 1 ; Digby, Emily 1 ; Armistead, Ellie 1
SB: Armistead, Ellie 1
CS: Chambley, Sydney 1
HBP: Kuma, Sydney 1
Batting:
2B: McManus, Brynn 1 ; Jessee, Savannah 1
HR: Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
RBI: Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Roberts, Brooke 1 ; Craine, Rachel 3
SH: Barrett, Raigan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Heidorn, Lilly 1 ; Madrey, KK 1 ; Roberts, Brooke 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
HBP: Barrett, Raigan 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ 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