
Back-to-Back! No. 1 Seed Liberty Downs No. 3 Seed Jax State 8-0 for 2nd CUSA Title
5/10/2025 4:02:00 PM | Softball
Top-seeded Liberty earned an 8-0, five-inning victory over No. 3 seed Jax State in the winner-take-all final of the 2025 CUSA Softball Championship, Saturday at WKU Softball Complex. The Lady Flames have repeated as CUSA champions, the first team since East Carolina in 2010-11 to win back-to-back CUSA Softball Championships.
Liberty (47-12) has earned CUSA's automatic berth to the 2025 NCAA Division I Softball Championship. It will be the Lady Flames' eighth NCAA Regional appearance and fifth in a row.
Jax State sees its season end with a 37-21 record. The Gamecocks made it to the finals with wins over Sam Houston, WKU and Liberty. The Lady Flames fell to Jax State 7-2 in yesterday's semifinal round before beating LA Tech 2-1 in 10 innings last night to earn their title shot.
Liberty's Elena Escobar was named the Conference USA Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Paige Doerr, KK Madrey and Savannah Woodard.
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Liberty 8, Jax State 0 (5 innings)
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Roberts sacrifice fly, Roupe and McManus advance, Woodard scores, 1-0
Liberty – 1st INNING – Doerr singles to center, Roupe scores, McManus out, 2-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – McManus walks, Roupe and Woodard advance, Jessee scores, 3-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Craine singles to left, Madrey scores, 4-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Woodard grand slam to right center, Henault, Heidorn and Craine score, 8-0
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Turning Point
Liberty will find out its NCAA Regional site tomorrow when the NCAA Softball Championship Selection Show airs at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
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Liberty (47-12) has earned CUSA's automatic berth to the 2025 NCAA Division I Softball Championship. It will be the Lady Flames' eighth NCAA Regional appearance and fifth in a row.
Jax State sees its season end with a 37-21 record. The Gamecocks made it to the finals with wins over Sam Houston, WKU and Liberty. The Lady Flames fell to Jax State 7-2 in yesterday's semifinal round before beating LA Tech 2-1 in 10 innings last night to earn their title shot.
Liberty's Elena Escobar was named the Conference USA Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Paige Doerr, KK Madrey and Savannah Woodard.
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Liberty 8, Jax State 0 (5 innings)
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Roberts sacrifice fly, Roupe and McManus advance, Woodard scores, 1-0
Liberty – 1st INNING – Doerr singles to center, Roupe scores, McManus out, 2-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – McManus walks, Roupe and Woodard advance, Jessee scores, 3-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Craine singles to left, Madrey scores, 4-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Woodard grand slam to right center, Henault, Heidorn and Craine score, 8-0
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Turning Point
- Liberty scored in every inning, with Savannah Woodard's grand slam in the fourth serving as the knockout punch.
- Elena Escobar cruised through the five-inning shutout, striking out nine during a two-hit effort.Â
- Liberty outhit Jax State 7-2 for the game. Both teams committed one error and both stranded four.
- Escobar improved to 22-3 on the season with the win, her third of the tournament. She allowed two hits and struck out nine in her seventh shutout of the season and second this week.
- Jaliyah Holmes (9-5) drew the loss, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits, walking four and fanning three in two innings before giving way to McKinley Portillo and Kat Carter.
- Savannah Woodard went 2-for-2 with a double, homer and four RBI, while Savannah Jessee went 2-for-2 with one run scored. Brynn McManus, Brooke Roberts, Paige Doerr and Rachel Craine all drove in one run apiece. KK Madrey stole her 48th base.
- Liberty is now 8-2 all-time against Jax State in softball. The Lady Flames had won the last seven meetings prior to today.
- The Lady Flames are now 7-5 all-time in conference tournament finals, including 5-1 under 12th-year head coach Dot Richardson.
- Liberty's 47-12 record is identical to the record that Liberty carried into the 2018 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.Â
Liberty will find out its NCAA Regional site tomorrow when the NCAA Softball Championship Selection Show airs at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Escobar, Elena (22-3)
L: Jaliyah Holmes (9-5)
Base Running:
SB: Emma Elrod 1
HBP: Kailey Martin 1

Batting:
2B: Woodard, Savannah 1
HR: Woodard, Savannah 1
RBI: Woodard, Savannah 4 ; McManus, Brynn 1 ; Roberts, Brooke 1 ; Doerr, Paige 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
SF: Roberts, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodard, Savannah 2 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Madrey, KK 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1 ; Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Heidorn, Lilly 1 ; Henault, Alyssa 1
SB: Madrey, KK 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Coach 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