Wednesday, April 30
Charlottesville, VA
6:00 PM ET
Liberty University
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Virginia
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No. 24 UVA Edges No. 25 Liberty 5-3
4/30/2025 8:36:00 PM | Softball
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - No. 24 Virginia used a four-run fourth inning to come back for a 5-3 win over 25th-ranked Liberty, Wednesday at Palmer Park.
The Cavaliers finish their regular-season schedule with a 36-16 record. Meanwhile, the Lady Flames fall to 41-11 on the season with the loss.
Virginia was ranked No. 24 in the D1Softball.com Top 25 and No. 25 in the NFCA/GoRout Top 25 Coaches Poll this week, while the Lady Flames were ranked 25th by Softball America.
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Virginia 5, Liberty 3
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Woodard scores on wild pitch, 1-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Craine reaches on fielder's choice, Madrey scores on error, 2-0
Virginia – 2nd INNING – M.C. Eaton homers to left, 2-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roberts advances to second on error, Roupe scores, 3-1
Virginia – 4th INNING – Jones doubles to left center, Hackett and Eaton score, 3-3
Virginia – 4th INNING – Hylton homers to left, Jones scores, 5-3
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Turning Point
The Lady Flames return home to Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium for their final regular-season games, hosting FIU on Friday through Sunday. Liberty has already wrapped up the CUSA regular-season title for the second year in a row.
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The Cavaliers finish their regular-season schedule with a 36-16 record. Meanwhile, the Lady Flames fall to 41-11 on the season with the loss.
Virginia was ranked No. 24 in the D1Softball.com Top 25 and No. 25 in the NFCA/GoRout Top 25 Coaches Poll this week, while the Lady Flames were ranked 25th by Softball America.
Â
Virginia 5, Liberty 3
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Woodard scores on wild pitch, 1-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Craine reaches on fielder's choice, Madrey scores on error, 2-0
Virginia – 2nd INNING – M.C. Eaton homers to left, 2-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roberts advances to second on error, Roupe scores, 3-1
Virginia – 4th INNING – Jones doubles to left center, Hackett and Eaton score, 3-3
Virginia – 4th INNING – Hylton homers to left, Jones scores, 5-3
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Turning Point
- The Lady Flames manufactured one run in each of the first three innings. Meanwhile, Virginia managed just one run on six hits over the first two frames.
- Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Virginia rallied with one out. After a walk to M.C. Eaton, Kelsey Hackett singled up the middle. Kailyn Jones then tied the game with a two-run double. Elena Escobar came on in relief of Paige Bachman, but the first batter she faced, Jade Hylton, untied the game with a two-run homer.
- Virginia outhit Liberty 9-2 for the game, with the Cavaliers' two errors and one passed ball contributing to two unearned runs for the Lady Flames. Liberty left six runners on base, compared to four stranded by Virginia.
- Eden Bigham (16-8) earned the win, allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits, walking four and fanning three.
- Paige Bachman (10-3) drew the loss, yielding three runs on two hits, walking one in two relief innings. Starter Kaylan Yoder allowed one run on six hits in 1 1/3 innings. Elena Escobar pitched the final 2 2/3 inning, giving up one run on one hit, with two strikeouts.
- Jade Hylton went 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBI and one run scored for Virginia, while Kelsey Hackett batted 2-for-3 with one run scored and Kailyn Jones hit 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. M.C. Eaton (1-for-2) homered, drove in one and scored twice.
- For Liberty, Savannah Woodard and KK Madrey both went 1-for-3 with one run scored, while Madrey stole her 45th base of the season. Â Â
- Virginia leads Liberty 50-28 in the all-time series. This is the third year in a row in which Liberty and Virginia have split the season series.
- The Lady Flames are 1-6 against nationally-ranked opponents so far this season.
- Liberty is now 18-3 when scoring in the first inning and 31-5 when scoring first.
- Madrey continues to add to her single-season program record, now standing at 45 steals. Her 45 stolen bases are the most by a CUSA player since Madisyn Palmer of FAU stole 48 bases in 2019.
- Rachel Roupe is now tied with Stacy Radulovich (1996-99) for fourth all-time at Liberty with 167 career runs scored.Â
The Lady Flames return home to Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium for their final regular-season games, hosting FIU on Friday through Sunday. Liberty has already wrapped up the CUSA regular-season title for the second year in a row.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eden Bigham (16-8)
L: Bachman, Paige (10-3)
Batting:
2B: Woodard, Savannah 1
SH: Craine, Rachel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodard, Savannah 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Madrey, KK 1
SB: Madrey, KK 1
HBP: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Doerr, Paige 1
Batting:
2B: Kailyn Jones 2
HR: Jade Hylton 1 ; M.C. Eaton 1
RBI: Jade Hylton 2 ; M.C. Eaton 1 ; Kailyn Jones 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Jade Hylton 1 ; M.C. Eaton 2 ; Kelsey Hackett 1 ; Kailyn Jones 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ SoftballStep Into My Office: Dot Richardson
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Paige Doerr Talks About The Upcoming Softball Season
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Thursday, December 11
Coach Richardson, Elena Escobar & Rachel Roupe Talk About The Game Against Oregon
Sunday, May 25