Friday, May 9
Bowling Green, Ky.
1:00 PM ET/12:00 PM CT
Liberty University
45-12
2
vs
7
Jacksonville State
37-20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Jax State
0
0
3
1
1
2
0
7
8
1
Liberty
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
6
2
Doerr’s Walk-Off Sends No. 1 Seed Liberty to CUSA Final
5/9/2025 11:52:00 PM | Softball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – No. 1 seed Liberty earned a spot in the CUSA Softball Championship final for the second year in a row, defeating No. 4 seed Louisiana Tech 2-1 in 10 innings on Friday night at WKU Softball Complex.
The Lady Flames (46-12) had fallen to No. 3 seed Jax State 7-2 earlier on Friday, dropping into the elimination bracket. Liberty knocked out LA Tech (32-25) and will take on Jax State in a winner-take-all final tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT) live on CBS Sports Network.
The winner of tomorrow's final between Liberty and Jax State will earn the CUSA's automatic berth to the 2025 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
Game 1
Jax State 7, Liberty 2
Scoring Summary
Jax State – 3rd INNING – Reed homers to left center, Elrod and Cushingberry score, 3-0
Jax State – 4th INNING – Elrod homers to left center, 4-0
Jax State – 5th INNING – Kyser homers to left, 5-0
Jax State – 6th INNING – Nowakowski sacrifice bunt, Cushingberry advances, Pate scores, 6-0
Turning Point
Liberty 2, LA Tech 1 (10 innings)
Scoring Summary
LA Tech – 4th INNING – Snyder grounds out to shortstop, Hammoude advances, Raley scores, 1-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Doerr doubles to right, Roberts scores, 1-1
Liberty – 10th INNING – Doerr singles to right field, Madrey and Roberts advance, Heidorn scores, 2-1
Turning Point
The Lady Flames (46-12) had fallen to No. 3 seed Jax State 7-2 earlier on Friday, dropping into the elimination bracket. Liberty knocked out LA Tech (32-25) and will take on Jax State in a winner-take-all final tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT) live on CBS Sports Network.
The winner of tomorrow's final between Liberty and Jax State will earn the CUSA's automatic berth to the 2025 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
Game 1
Jax State 7, Liberty 2
Scoring Summary
Jax State – 3rd INNING – Reed homers to left center, Elrod and Cushingberry score, 3-0
Jax State – 4th INNING – Elrod homers to left center, 4-0
Jax State – 5th INNING – Kyser homers to left, 5-0
Jax State – 6th INNING – Nowakowski sacrifice bunt, Cushingberry advances, Pate scores, 6-0
Turning Point
- Jax State homered in the third (three-run homer by Amber Reed), fourth (solo homer by Emma Elrod) and fifth innings (solo homer by Makalyn Kyser), leading 5-0 after five.
- The Gamecocks added two more runs in the sixth to gain a 7-0 advantage. Liberty finally broke through against Jax State starter in the bottom of the sixth, getting a two-run double from Paige Doerr. However, that ended the scoring.
- Jax State outhit Liberty 8-6 for the game, with the Lady Flames committing two errors and the Gamecocks sustaining one error.
- Carter (12-7) earned the win, allowing two runs on six hits, walking one and striking out three.
- Kaylan Yoder (9-5) drew the loss, allowing three runs on two hits, walking three and fanning one in 2 1/3 innings before giving way to Paige Bachman (2 2/3 IP) and Danner Allen (2 IP).
- For Jax State, Amber Reed went 2-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and one run scored. Emma Elrod batted 2-for-4 with a homer, one RBI and two runs scored. Makalyn Kyser homered for the third straight game in the CUSA Softball Championship. Jaci Underwood went 2-for-3.
- Savannah Woodard went 2-for-4 with a double, while KK Madrey batted 1-for-3 with her 47th stolen base and scored once. Paige Doerr hit 1-for-2 with a double and two RBI.
- Liberty is now 7-2 all-time against Jax State in softball. The Lady Flames had won the last seven meetings prior to today.
- Today was the second conference tournament meeting between Liberty and Jax State. The Lady Flames defeated the Gamecocks 4-2 in the 2023 ASUN Championship quarterfinals.
- The Lady Flames had not allowed a single run in 30 straight innings before giving up the third-inning homer to Amber Reed.
Liberty 2, LA Tech 1 (10 innings)
Scoring Summary
LA Tech – 4th INNING – Snyder grounds out to shortstop, Hammoude advances, Raley scores, 1-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Doerr doubles to right, Roberts scores, 1-1
Liberty – 10th INNING – Doerr singles to right field, Madrey and Roberts advance, Heidorn scores, 2-1
Turning Point
- In a game of twists and turns, both teams left the bases loaded in the eighth inning.
- The Lady Flames loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th. Paige Doerr rocketed the first pitch she saw to right field for a walk-off single, sending pinch runner Lilly Heidorn home with the winning run.
- Liberty outhit LA Tech 13-6 for the game, with both teams committing one error. The Lady Flames left 12 runners on base, while the Bulldogs stranded 10.
- Elena Escobar (21-3) earned the win, allowing one run on six hits, walking four and fanning six.
- Alyssa Martin (3-4) drew the loss, yielding two runs on 13 hits, with three runs and one strikeout.
- Doerr went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI, while Rachel Roupe batted 3-for-5. Brooke Roberts batted 2-for-4 with two doubles and one run scored, while Brynn McManus batted 2-for-5. KK Madrey stole her 48th base of the season.
- For LA Tech, Claire Raley went 2-for-5 with a double and one run scored.
- Liberty is now 11-0 all-time against LA Tech in softball, including 2-0 this week at the CUSA Softball Championship and 3-0 all-time in conference tournament play.
- The Lady Flames are attempting to become the first softball team since East Carolina in 2010 and 2011 to win back-to-back CUSA Softball Championships.
- Liberty was playing its first extra-inning game of the season tonight.
- The Lady Flames are now 10-3 in one-run games this season.
- Liberty's last postseason extra-inning game was last year's CUSA Softball Championship title game, which Liberty won in nine innings over WKU on a Savannah Jessee walk-off double.
- Madrey has reached base safely in each of the last 16 games.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kat Carter (12-7)
L: Yoder, Kaylan (9-5)
Batting:
HR: Emma Elrod 1 ; Amber Reed 1 ; Makalyn Kyser 1
RBI: Emma Elrod 1 ; Morgan Nowakowski 1 ; Amber Reed 4 ; Makalyn Kyser 1
SH: Morgan Nowakowski 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Emma Elrod 2 ; Amber Reed 1 ; Makalyn Kyser 1 ; Ella Pate 1 ; Haleigh Cushingberry 2
Batting:
2B: Woodard, Savannah 1 ; Doerr, Paige 1
RBI: Doerr, Paige 2
Base Running:
RUNS: McManus, Brynn 1 ; Madrey, KK 1
SB: Madrey, KK 1
HBP: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Doerr, Paige 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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P
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