Saturday, May 17
College Station, TX
2:00 PM ET/1:00 PM CT
Liberty University
49-12
8
at
5
Texas A&M
46-10
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2
3
4
5
6
7
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H
E
Liberty
0
0
3
0
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5
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8
11
2
Texas A&M
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4
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5
5
1
5-run 6th Sends Liberty Past No. 1 Texas A&M into Regional Final
5/17/2025 5:41:00 PM | Softball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Liberty trailed national No. 1 seed Texas A&M 5-3 entering the top of the sixth before erupting for a five-run inning to down the Aggies, Saturday at Davis Diamond to advance to the Bryan-College Station Regional final.
The Lady Flames (49-12) advance to tomorrow's Regional final round. Liberty is one win away from making its first-ever Super Regional appearance. Texas A&M (46-10) falls into the losers' bracket, where it will face either Marist or Saint Francis (Pa.) tonight with a spot in tomorrow's Regional final on the line. The winner of tonight's game would have to beat Liberty twice tomorrow to advance to Super Regionals.
Tomorrow's Regional final will begin at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT), with game two following if necessary.
Liberty 8, Texas A&M 5
Scoring Summary
Texas A&M – 2nd INNING – Eschete reaches on fielder's choice, Enright and Dement advance, Harper scores, 1-0
Texas A&M – 2nd INNING – Mathis singles to right, Eschete and Enright advance, Dement scores, 2-0
Texas A&M – 2nd INNING – Powell reaches on error, Mathis and Eschete advance, Enright scores, 3-0
Texas A&M – 2nd INNING – Wooley reaches on fielder's choice, Powell out, Mathis advances, Eschete scores, 4-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Madrey triples to center, Henault scores, 4-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Doerr homers to right, Madrey scores, 4-3
Texas A&M – 3rd INNING – Enright sac fly, Dement advances, Harper scores, 5-3
Liberty – 6th INNING – Woodard advances, Whatley scores on a passed ball, 5-4
Liberty – 6th INNING – Henault singles to right center, Roupe and Woodard score, 6-5
Liberty – 6th INNING – Madrey homers to right, Henault scores, 8-5
Turning Point
• Texas A&M took a 4-0 lead with a four-run second inning, taking advantage of two Liberty errors.
• The Lady Flames narrowed the gap to 4-3 with an RBI triple by KK Madrey and a two-run homer from Paige Doerr in the third.
• Trailing 5-3 entering the sixth, the Lady Flames rallied with a runner on second and one out. After a single by Savannah Woodard, Savanth Whatley scored from third on a passed ball. Rachel Roupe then singled before Brynn McManus grounded to third. Alyssa Henault gave Liberty a 6-5 lead with a two-run single before Madrey's two-run homer provided insurance.
Notable Numbers
• Liberty outhit Texas A&M 11-5 for the game. The Lady Flames committed two errors compared to one by the Aggies. Liberty left seven runners on base, while Texas A&M stranded six.
• Elena Escobar improved to 24-3 with the win, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits, walking three and striking out three. Escobar has been the winning pitcher for each of Liberty's last four Regional victories and each of the team's last five wins over Top 25 teams.
• Emiley Kennedy (21-5) drew the loss, allowing eight runs on 11 hits, walking two and fanning eight.
• KK Madrey batted 3-for-3 with a triple, homer, three RBI and two runs scored, while Alyssa Henault went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Rachel Roupe went 2-for-4 with one run scored, while Paige Doerr batted 1-for-4 with a homer and two RBI.
• KK Dement went 2-for-2 with a double and one run scored for the Aggies. Amari Harper drew two walks and scored twice.
Beyond the Box Score
• The Lady Flames knocked off the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time in program history. Liberty is 2-5 against Top 25 teams this season, 23-86 against nationally-ranked opponents under Coach Richardson and 29-127 against the Top 25 all-time.
• Liberty is now 2-3 all-time against Texas A&M, including 2-1 at Davis Diamond. The Lady Flames and Aggies spit a pair of games here in 2019.
• The Lady Flames are the first team since Wisconsin (over Oklahoma) in 2019 to beat a national No. 1 seed in Regionals. Prior to today, Arkansas (over California) in 2012 was the last team to beat the No. 1 seed prior to the Regional final.
• No national No. 1 seed has every failed to make it out of Regionals.
• Liberty has made 19 come-from-behind wins, with seven of those coming when trailing in the sixth inning or later.
• The Lady Flames are now 11-10 all-time in NCAA Regional games under current 12th-year Head Coach Dot Richardson and 11-14 overall at Regionals.
• Liberty has tied its program record for single-season wins, as the Lady Flames were 49-12 after winning the first two games of the 2018 Columbia Regional.
• The Lady Flames are making their fifth NCAA Regional final and third in a row. In 2018 (Columbia) and again in 2024 (Athens), Liberty opened at 2-0 before falling twice on Sunday.
• Liberty is looking to become the seventh NCAA Regional champion in CUSA softball history and first since UAB in 2013.
• Liberty's eight runs today were the most allowed by Texas A&M at home since falling 12-4 to Florida on March 8.
• Madrey (today), Savannah Woodard (yesterday vs. Marist) and Kara Canetto (May 23, 2021 versus James Madison) are the only two Lady Flames with an NCAA postseason three-hit game.
• Seven current Lady Flames have hit at least one NCAA postseason homer.
• Escobar's 24 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 (24-3)
L: Emiley Kennedy (21-5)
Batting:
3B: Madrey, KK 1
HR: Madrey, KK 1 ; Doerr, Paige 1
RBI: Henault, Alyssa 2 ; Madrey, KK 3 ; Doerr, Paige 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodard, Savannah 1 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Henault, Alyssa 2 ; Madrey, KK 2 ; Doerr, Paige 1 ; Whatley, Savanah 1
SB: Doerr, Paige 1
HBP: Madrey, KK 1 ; Jessee, Savannah 1
Batting:
2B: KK Dement 1
RBI: Kennedy Powell 1 ; Koko Wooley 1 ; Allie Enright 1 ; Kramer Eschete 1 ; Kelsey Mathis 1
SF: Allie Enright 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Amari Harper 2 ; KK Dement 1 ; Allie Enright 1 ; Kramer Eschete 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
P
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INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
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