Saturday, April 5
Lynchburg, Va.
2:00 PM ET
Liberty University
32-8, 12-1
8
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4
Middle Tennessee
18-20, 7-7
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5
6
7
R
H
E
Middle Tennessee
0
0
1
0
0
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1
4
4
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Liberty
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4
0
3
0
X
8
9
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No. 20 Liberty Sweeps Twin Bill from Blue Raiders, Earns Series Win
4/5/2025 8:18:00 PM | Softball
LYNCHBURG, Va. - No. 20 Liberty battled for a pair of wins over Middle Tennessee, downing the Blue Raiders by scores of 8-4 and 5-4 on Saturday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium. Middle Tennessee won game one last night, while the Lady Flames rallied for the doubleheader sweep today to claim the series victory and remain atop CUSA standings.
The Lady Flames improved to 33-8 on the season, including 13-1 in CUSA play. Meanwhile, the Blue Raiders fall to 18-21, 7-8 in conference games after seeing its five-game winning streak halted today.
Game 1
Liberty 8, Middle Tennessee 4
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Woodard homers to right field, 1-0
MT – 3rd INNING – Tepe homers to left field, 1-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roupe doubles to right, Woodard scores, 2-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Whatley sacrifice fly, Roupe scores, 3-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Madrey bunt single, Norris scores on throwing error, 4-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Doerr singles to right, Madrey scores, 5-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Doerr singles, Madrey and Carrasquillo advance, McManus scores, 6-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Craine singles to left, Doerr advances, Madrey & Carrasquillo score, 8-1
MT – 6th INNING – Garcia homers to left, 8-3
MT – 7th INNING – Harter triples to right center, Ritto scores, 8-4
Turning Point
Liberty 5, Middle Tennessee 4
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Whatley reaches on FC, McManus advances, Roupe scores, 1-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Woodard singles, Jessee and Roberts score, 3-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – McManus homers to center, 4-0
MT – 5th INNING – Blevins singles to left, Ritto scores, 4-1
MT – 6th INNING – Harvey homers to left, Ammon and Medlock score, 4-4
Liberty – 6th INNING – Jessee singles down left field line, Roberts advances, Doerr scores, 5-4
Turning Point
Liberty will host Virginia on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Liberty Softball Stadium, wrapping up a stretch of eight out of nine games at home.
The Lady Flames improved to 33-8 on the season, including 13-1 in CUSA play. Meanwhile, the Blue Raiders fall to 18-21, 7-8 in conference games after seeing its five-game winning streak halted today.
Game 1
Liberty 8, Middle Tennessee 4
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Woodard homers to right field, 1-0
MT – 3rd INNING – Tepe homers to left field, 1-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roupe doubles to right, Woodard scores, 2-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Whatley sacrifice fly, Roupe scores, 3-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Madrey bunt single, Norris scores on throwing error, 4-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Doerr singles to right, Madrey scores, 5-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Doerr singles, Madrey and Carrasquillo advance, McManus scores, 6-1
Liberty – 5th INNING – Craine singles to left, Doerr advances, Madrey & Carrasquillo score, 8-1
MT – 6th INNING – Garcia homers to left, 8-3
MT – 7th INNING – Harter triples to right center, Ritto scores, 8-4
Turning Point
- The Lady Flames took control of the game with a four-run third inning, gaining the lead at 5-1. Liberty nearly run-ruled the Blue Raiders, leading 8-1 after five.
- Middle Tennessee rallied to within four, but got no closer.
- Liberty outhit Middle Tennessee 9-4, with the Blue Raiders committing two errors.
- Elena Escobar (14-3) earned the win, allowing four runs on four hits while walking four and striking out a career-high 13 batters.
- Tori Coffman (7-5) drew the loss, yielding five runs on five hits, allowing three walks in three innings before giving way to Jesyne Espinal.
- Paige Doerr went 2-for-3-with two RBI, while KK Madrey batted 2-for-2 with two steals and two runs scored. Savannah Woodard (1-for-2) homers, drove in one run and scored twice, while Rachel Roupe doubled and Rachel Craine plated two.
- Julia Garcia with 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBI, while Ava Tepe homered as well.
- Escobar's 13 strikeouts were the most by a Lady Flame since current Liberty assistant coach Emily Kirby fanned 13 in an NCAA Regional win over No. 19 Georgia, May 20, 2022.
- Escobar tied the Liberty Softball Stadium record for most strikeouts by a Lady Flame, which was set by Julia DiMartino on March 12, 2016 against Sacred Heart.
- Madrey now has stolen 31 bases, the most steals by a Lady Flame since Katie Zavodny's 32 stolen bases in 2014.
- Woodard led off the game with a home run. It marked the second time this season that she has hit a homer as Liberty's first batter in a game (also March 18 at Duke, game 2).
Liberty 5, Middle Tennessee 4
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Whatley reaches on FC, McManus advances, Roupe scores, 1-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Woodard singles, Jessee and Roberts score, 3-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – McManus homers to center, 4-0
MT – 5th INNING – Blevins singles to left, Ritto scores, 4-1
MT – 6th INNING – Harvey homers to left, Ammon and Medlock score, 4-4
Liberty – 6th INNING – Jessee singles down left field line, Roberts advances, Doerr scores, 5-4
Turning Point
- Liberty led 4-0 after Brynn McManus' solo homer in the third. However, Middle Tennessee scored once in the fifth before getting the first two batters on base in the sixth. Elena Escobar came on in relief of Paige Bachman, but gave up a game-tying pinch hit homer to Anyce Harvey.
- The Lady Flames put together three straight singles to open the bottom of the sixth, as Paige Doerr and Brooke Roberts' base hits were followed by an RBI single from Savannah Jessee.
- Liberty outhit Middle Tennessee 10-6 for the game, with the Blue Raiders committing one error.
- Escobar (15-3) earned the win in relief, allowing one run on one hit while striking out three in two relief innings. Bachman yielded three runs on five hits in five innings, walking two and fanning seven.
- Leila Ammon fell to 6-9 with the loss, allowing five runs on 10 hits while striking out four in five innings.
- Savannah Jessee went 3-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored, while Brooke Roberts batted 2-for-3 and scored once. Brynn McManus went 2-for-4 with a homer, one RBI and one run, while Rachel Roupe hit her 15th double of the season and Savannah Woodard drove in a pair.
- For Middle Tennessee, Anyce Harvey went 1-for-1 with a homer, three RBI and one run scored, while Ammon and Macie Harter had two hits apiece.
- Liberty leads Middle Tennessee 8-4 in the all-time softball series.
- The Lady Flames have won all 13 CUSA series since joining the conference last year, including seven series sweeps and six 2-1 series victories.
- Liberty was ranked No. 20 in the D1Softball Top 25 Poll this week.
- Woodard pushed her hitting streak to 10 games, while Roupe has reached base safely in each of the last 13 games.
- The Lady Flames have struck out 10 or more batters eight times this season, their most 10-strikeout games since have 10 in 2016.
- Roupe is now tied with Sarah Robertson (2016-19) for fourth in career history with 50 career doubles. She is also now in sole possession of second all-time at Liberty with 110 career extra-base hits.
- Roupe and Amber Bishop-Riley (2017-21) are the only two Lady Flames all-time with both 50 career doubles and 50 career home runs.
- Liberty is now 8-3 in one-run games this season.
- The Lady Flames are 18-2 at home this year, with seven home games remaining.
Liberty will host Virginia on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Liberty Softball Stadium, wrapping up a stretch of eight out of nine games at home.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Escobar, Elena (14-3)
L: COFFMAN, Tori (7-5)
Batting:
2B: EDGMON, Addy 1
3B: HARTER, Macie 1
HR: GARCIA, Julia 1 ; TEPE, Ava 1
RBI: HARTER, Macie 1 ; GARCIA, Julia 2 ; TEPE, Ava 1
SH: HARTER, Macie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: RITTO, Sabria 1 ; WANT, Jana 1 ; GARCIA, Julia 1 ; TEPE, Ava 1
SB: WANT, Jana 1
HBP: EDGMON, Addy 1
Batting:
2B: Roupe, Rachel 1
HR: Woodard, Savannah 1
RBI: Woodard, Savannah 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Whatley, Savanah 1 ; Doerr, Paige 2 ; Craine, Rachel 2
SF: Whatley, Savanah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodard, Savannah 2 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; McManus, Brynn 1 ; Carrasquillo, Alexia 1 ; Norris, Aubry 1 ; Madrey, KK 2
SB: Norris, Aubry 1 ; Madrey, KK 2 ; Craine, Rachel 1
CS: Woodard, Savannah 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
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H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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INF
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