Friday, May 16
College Station, Texas
1:00 PM ET/12:00 PM CT
Liberty University
48-12
10
vs
5
Marist
47-8-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Marist
0
0
3
0
0
0
2
5
9
2
Liberty
0
4
0
4
2
0
X
10
11
0
Liberty Opens College Station Regional with 10-5 Win Over Marist
5/16/2025 4:25:00 PM | Softball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Liberty used a pair of four-run innings to help break open a close game, downing Marist 10-5 on Friday at Davis Diamond in the first game of the Bryan-College Station Regional.
Lady Flames (48-12) advance in the winners' bracket, where they will play tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) against the winner of today's contest between national No. 1 seed Texas A&M and Saint Francis (Pa.). Marist falls to 47-8-1 as its 17-game winning streak was snapped today. The Red Foxes will play in an elimination game tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. CT).
Liberty 10, Marist 5
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 2nd INNING – Woodard reaches on error, goes to second on error, Craine scores, 1-0
Liberty – 2nd INNING – McManus homers to right, Woodard and Roupe score, 4-0
Marist – 3rd INNING – McDonald homers to left, Gore and Pusey score, 4-3
Liberty – 4th INNING – Woodard singles to center, Whatley scores, 5-3
Liberty – 4th INNING – Doerr doubles to right, Madrey, Henault and McManus score, 8-3
Liberty – 5th INNING – Woodard doubles, Whatley scores, 9-3
Liberty – 5th INNING – Woodard scores, Roupe caught stealing, 10-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Pusey homers to right center, 10-4
Liberty – 7th INNING – McDonald homers to right center, 10-5
Turning Point
• Liberty scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the second, jumping ahead 1-0 when Savannah Woodard reached on an error with two outs, allowing Rachel Craine to score. Later in the inning, Brynn McManus' three-run homer made it 4-0.
• Marist responded with three in the top of the third, but a four-run fourth and two run fifth put the game out of reach.
Notable Numbers
• Liberty outhit Marist 11-9 for the game, with the Red Foxes committing two errors. Both teams left six runners on base.
• Today's pitching matchup featured the CUSA Pitcher of the Year and MAAC Pitcher of the Year. Elena Escobar (23-3) got the upper hand, allowing five runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out eight in six innings before Paige Bachman retired all three batters she faced.
• Marist's Maddie Pleasants allowed eight runs (four earned) on six hits, walking four and fanning three in 3 1/3 innings pitched before giving way to Anna Sidlowski.
• Savannah Woodard went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Brynn McManus batted 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored. Savanah Whatley, making her first appearance since April 30 at Virginia, went 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. Paige Doerr batted 1-for-4 with a double and three RIB, while Rachel Roupe, Alyssa Henault and Rachel Craine all scored.
• Miah McDonald batted 3-for-4 with two homers, four RBI and two runs scored for Marist, while Peyton Pusey went 3-for-4 with a double, homer, one RBI and two runs scored.
Beyond the Box Score
• Liberty is now 5-0 all-time against Marist in softball, with the last meeting coming on Feb. 26, 2011.
• The Lady Flames are now 10-10 all-time in NCAA Regional games under current 12th-year Head Coach Dot Richardson and 10-14 overall at Regionals.
• Liberty has tied its best 60-game start to a season, as the Lady Flames were 48-12 after winning the first game of the 2018 Columbia Regional.
• The Lady Flames have gone 4-2 in Regional openers under Coach Richardson.
• Marist entered the game ranked second in the nation with 103 home runs as a team.
• Liberty set program records for runs scored (10), hits (11) and RBI (8) in a Regional game, while Woodard and Brynn McManus (May 18, 2024 at Georgia) are the only two Lady Flames with a two-double game at Regionals.
• Woodard and Kara Canetto (May 23, 2021 versus James Madison) are the only two Lady Flames with an NCAA postseason three-hit game.
• Escobar has been the winning pitcher for each of Liberty's last three NCAA Regional game victories.
• Escobar's 23 wins this season are third all-time at Liberty for a single season, trailing only Julia DiMartino (29 in 2018) and Karlie Keeney (27 in 2023).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Escobar, Elena (23-3)
L: Pleasants, Maddie (16-4)
Batting:
2B: Pusey, Peyton 1
HR: Pusey, Peyton 1 ; McDonald, Miah 2
RBI: Pusey, Peyton 1 ; McDonald, Miah 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Pusey, Peyton 2 ; McDonald, Miah 2 ; Gore, Maddie 1
SB: Kunze, Sienna 1
HBP: Kunze, Sienna 1
Batting:
2B: Woodard, Savannah 2 ; Doerr, Paige 1
3B: Whatley, Savanah 1
HR: McManus, Brynn 1
RBI: Woodard, Savannah 2 ; McManus, Brynn 3 ; Doerr, Paige 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodard, Savannah 2 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; McManus, Brynn 2 ; Henault, Alyssa 1 ; Madrey, KK 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1 ; Whatley, Savanah 2
SB: McManus, Brynn 1
CS: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Madrey, KK 1
HBP: Henault, Alyssa 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
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OF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
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