Friday, February 7
Leesburg, Fla.
4:00 PM ET
Liberty University
1-0
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2
Radford
0-1
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6
7
R
H
E
Radford
0
0
0
2
0
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2
6
2
Liberty
0
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7
2
No. 20 Lady Flames Open Season With Wins Over Radford, Louisville
2/7/2025 9:49:00 PM | Softball
LEESBURG, Fla. - Liberty earned a 3-2, walk-off win over Radford and a 9-4 victory over Louisville on opening day of the 2025 season at Sleepy Hollow Softball Complex.
The Lady Flames went 2-0 to start THE Spring Games, while Louisville started the season with a 1-1 record. Liberty was ranked No. 20 on the preseason Softball America Top 25 and No. 24 on the D1Softball.com Top 25.
Game 1
Liberty 3, Radford 2
Scoring Summary
Radford – 4th INNING – Bossler singles to center, Harrison and Smith score, 2-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Woodard singles to right, Madrey scores, 2-1
Liberty – 7th INNING – Roberts scores on failed pickoff by catcher, 2-2
Liberty – 7th INNING – Whatley singles to short, Madrey scores, 3-2
Turning Point
Liberty 9, Louisville 4
Scoring Summary
Louisville – 2nd INNING – Monroe singles to left, Janda scores, 1-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roupe homers to left, Madrey scores, 2-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Madrey singles to left, Roberts advances, Norris scores, 3-1
Louisville – 5th INNING – Lotus singles, Alexander and Williams score, 3-3
Liberty – 6th INNING – Roberts singles, advances on error, Doerr scores, 4-3
Liberty – 6th INNING – Madrey singles to center, Roberts scores, 5-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Jessee flies out to right, sac fly, Woodard scores, 6-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Doerr reaches on fielder's choice, Roupe scores on error, 7-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Roberts singles up the middle, Craine advances, Doerr and Heidorn scores, 9-3
Louisville – 7th INNING – Lotus grounds out, Alexander advances, Monroe scores, 9-4
Turning Point
Liberty plays twice tomorrow, taking on Cleveland State at 1 p.m. before facing Rutgers at 3:30 p.m.
The Lady Flames went 2-0 to start THE Spring Games, while Louisville started the season with a 1-1 record. Liberty was ranked No. 20 on the preseason Softball America Top 25 and No. 24 on the D1Softball.com Top 25.
Game 1
Liberty 3, Radford 2
Scoring Summary
Radford – 4th INNING – Bossler singles to center, Harrison and Smith score, 2-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Woodard singles to right, Madrey scores, 2-1
Liberty – 7th INNING – Roberts scores on failed pickoff by catcher, 2-2
Liberty – 7th INNING – Whatley singles to short, Madrey scores, 3-2
Turning Point
- With Liberty trailing Radford 2-0 after four innings, Paige Bachman came on and pitched three innings of scoreless relief. The Lady Flames narrowed the gap to 2-1 on an RBI single by Savannah Woodard in the fifth, scoring KK Madrey.
- The Lady Flames still trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh. However, Brooke Roberts led off with a double and Madrey bunted for a base hit. With runners on the corners, Radford's catcher threw errantly behind Roberts at third, allowing Liberty to tie it. Savanah Whatley then hit an infield single, scoring Madrey to walk it off.
- Liberty outhit Radford 7-6 for the game, with both teams committing two errors.
- Bachman (1-0) earned the win with three innings of scoreless relief pitching during which she allowed two hits and fanned four. Starter Kaylan Yoder allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits, walking two and striking out two in four innings.
- Radford's Morgan Cooper (0-1) drew the loss, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits, walking one and fanning three.
- Whatley went 2-for-3 with an RBI in her first game since transferring from Oregon State, while Madrey batted 1-for-3 with three steals and two runs scored. Roberts went 1-for-3 with a double and one run scored.
- Isabel Harrison went 2-for-3 with one run scored for Radford, while Abby Bossler batted 1-for-2 with two RBI.
- This was the second year in a row in which Liberty won its season opener on a walk-off. Last year, Rachel Roupe's two-run homer walked off a season-opening 3-1 win over St. John's.
- The Lady Flames are 6-6 in season openers under 12th-year head coach Dot Richardson.
- Madrey tied her career high with three stolen bases, her third three-steal game. The last time she had three stolen bases was March 11, 2023 against Fairfield.
- Liberty has won each of its last nine meetings against Radford in softball, although the Highlanders lead the all-time series, 48-40.
- Radford is under the leadership of first-year head coach Kevin Fagan, who is assisted by daughter Cameron Fagan and former Lady Flame Kara Canetto. On Liberty's staff are three of Kevin Fagan's daughters: associate head coach Kasey Fagan, assistant coach Sami Fagan and director of operations Haley Sampson.
Liberty 9, Louisville 4
Scoring Summary
Louisville – 2nd INNING – Monroe singles to left, Janda scores, 1-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roupe homers to left, Madrey scores, 2-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Madrey singles to left, Roberts advances, Norris scores, 3-1
Louisville – 5th INNING – Lotus singles, Alexander and Williams score, 3-3
Liberty – 6th INNING – Roberts singles, advances on error, Doerr scores, 4-3
Liberty – 6th INNING – Madrey singles to center, Roberts scores, 5-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Jessee flies out to right, sac fly, Woodard scores, 6-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Doerr reaches on fielder's choice, Roupe scores on error, 7-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Roberts singles up the middle, Craine advances, Doerr and Heidorn scores, 9-3
Louisville – 7th INNING – Lotus grounds out, Alexander advances, Monroe scores, 9-4
Turning Point
- Liberty broke a 3-3 tie with RBI hits by Roberts and Madrey in the sixth inning. The Lady Flames put the game out of reach with a four-run seventh.
- Liberty led Louisville 11-5 in hits, with both teams committing two errors. The Lady Flames left five runners on base, compared to four stranded for the Cardinals.
- Elena Escobar (1-0) earned the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits, fanning two.
- Brooke Gray (0-1) drew the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
- Madrey went 3-for-4 with one double, two RBI and one run scored, while Brooke Roberts batted 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run for Liberty. Savannah Woodard went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and one run, while Rachel Roupe homered, drove in two runs and scored twice.
- Liberty is now 2-1 all-time against Louisville in softball. Before today, the first two meetings both went extra innings.
- This is the first time since 2021 that Liberty has started its season with back-to-back wins on opening day.
- Madrey passed Sarah Robertson (2016-19) into ninth place in program history with 46 career stolen bases.
- Against Louisville, Roberts posted her second career three-hit game, while Madrey had three hits for the first time since April 26, 2024 at UTEP.
Liberty plays twice tomorrow, taking on Cleveland State at 1 p.m. before facing Rutgers at 3:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bachman, Paige (1-0)
L: COOPER, Morgan (0-1)
Batting:
2B: BARBATO, Cassi 1
RBI: BOSSLER, Abby 2
Base Running:
RUNS: SMITH, Rachel 1 ; HARRISON, Isabel 1
SB: LEE, Amanda 1 ; SMITH, Rachel 1
Batting:
2B: Roberts, Brooke 1
RBI: Woodard, Savannah 1 ; Whatley, Savanah 1
SH: Jessee, Savannah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Roberts, Brooke 1 ; Madrey, KK 2
SB: Madrey, KK 3
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
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