Friday, February 6
Clearwater, Fla.
4:00 PM ET
Liberty University
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6
Tennessee
2-0
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6
7
R
H
E
Liberty
1
0
0
0
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1
4
1
Tennessee
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6
6
1
No. 21 Liberty Falls to Top 10 Teams Tennessee, Clemson on Opening Day
2/6/2026 10:15:00 PM | Softball
CLEARWATER, Fla. - No. 21 Liberty fell to both No. 4 Tennessee (6-1) and No. 9 Clemson (9-4) on the opening day of its 2026 season, Friday at Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.
The Lady Flames (0-2) are competing at the 2026 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic. Tennessee (2-0) and Clemson (3-0) both remain unbeaten on the season.
Game 1
Tennessee 6, Liberty 1
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Jessee singles up middle, Carrasquillo advances, Doerr scores, 1-0
Tennessee – 1st INNING – Morrison sacrifice fly to right field, Knight scores, 1-1
Tennessee – 4th INNING – Clarke homers down left field line, Dodge scores, 3-1
Tennessee – 4th INNING – Holley homers to left center, 4-1
Tennessee – 5th INNING – Clarke reaches on error, Shuler and Leach score, 6-1
Turning Point
Beyond the Box Score
Clemson 9, Liberty 4
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Carrasquillo reaches on error, McManus out at second, Doerr scores, 1-0
Clemson – 2nd INNING – Pipkins doubles to right center, Pavese and Hicks score, 2-1
Clemson – 2nd INNING – Pipkins scores on passed ball, 3-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – McManus sacrifice fly to right, Fox scores, 3-2
Clemson – 3rd INNING – Knowler reaches on error, Channell scores, 4-2
Clemson – 3rd INNING – Pavese reaches on error, Collins advances, Knowler scores, 5-2
Clemson – 4th INNING – Channell doubles to left center, Brockenbrough scores, 6-2
Clemson – 4th INNING – Collins singles, reaches second on error, Channell scores, 7-2
Liberty – 6th INNING – Doerr grounds out, Fox advances, Norris scores, 7-3
Clemson – 6th INNING – Channell reaches on error, Brockenbrough scores, 8-3
Clemson – 6th INNING – Knowler sacrifice fly, Channell scores, 9-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Roberts advances, Carrasquillo scores on wild pitch, 9-4
Turning Point
Liberty plays twice tomorrow, taking on Missouri at 1 p.m. before facing No. 5 Oregon at 4 p.m. The Lady Flames' 1 p.m. matchup with Missouri will air live nationally on MLB Network.
The Lady Flames (0-2) are competing at the 2026 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic. Tennessee (2-0) and Clemson (3-0) both remain unbeaten on the season.
Game 1
Tennessee 6, Liberty 1
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Jessee singles up middle, Carrasquillo advances, Doerr scores, 1-0
Tennessee – 1st INNING – Morrison sacrifice fly to right field, Knight scores, 1-1
Tennessee – 4th INNING – Clarke homers down left field line, Dodge scores, 3-1
Tennessee – 4th INNING – Holley homers to left center, 4-1
Tennessee – 5th INNING – Clarke reaches on error, Shuler and Leach score, 6-1
Turning Point
- Liberty jumped ahead in the top of the first inning, with leadoff batter Paige Doerr hitting a leadoff single before making it to third on a pair of passed balls. Savannah Jessee got Liberty on the board with a two-out RBI single. Tennessee tied it in the home half.
- The Lady Flames left six runners on base over the first three and a half innings. Tennessee then broke the tie with a three-run fourth, featuring homers from Emma Clarke and Taelyn Holley.
- Tennessee outhit Liberty 6-4 for the game, with both teams recording an error. The Lady Flames left seven runners on base, compared to four stranded by the Lady Vols.
- Karlyn Pickens (1-0) earned the win, allowing one unearned run on four hits, walking three, striking out 13 and hitting one.
- Liberty's Kaylan Yoder (0-1) drew the loss, allowing four runs on five hits, walking one in three innings. Freshman Caitlyn Nesbitt allowed two unearned runs on one hit, walking two and fanning two in three innings of work.
- Holley went 2-for-2 with a homer, one RBI and one run scored for Tennessee. Clarke batted 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and one run scored. Sophia Knight went 1-for-3 with a double and one run scored.
Beyond the Box Score
- Tennessee improves to 23-1 all-time against Liberty in softball, with the Lady Vols winning each of the last three meetings.
- The Lady Flames are 6-7 in season openers under 13th-year head coach Dot Richardson.
- Liberty is making its third appearance at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, also playing in this event in 2020 and 2024.
- The Lady Flames were ranked No. 21 in the preseason NFCA Top 25 Poll. Three of Liberty's opponents this weekend (No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Oregon, No. 9 Clemson) appear in the top 10.
Clemson 9, Liberty 4
Scoring Summary
Liberty – 1st INNING – Carrasquillo reaches on error, McManus out at second, Doerr scores, 1-0
Clemson – 2nd INNING – Pipkins doubles to right center, Pavese and Hicks score, 2-1
Clemson – 2nd INNING – Pipkins scores on passed ball, 3-1
Liberty – 3rd INNING – McManus sacrifice fly to right, Fox scores, 3-2
Clemson – 3rd INNING – Knowler reaches on error, Channell scores, 4-2
Clemson – 3rd INNING – Pavese reaches on error, Collins advances, Knowler scores, 5-2
Clemson – 4th INNING – Channell doubles to left center, Brockenbrough scores, 6-2
Clemson – 4th INNING – Collins singles, reaches second on error, Channell scores, 7-2
Liberty – 6th INNING – Doerr grounds out, Fox advances, Norris scores, 7-3
Clemson – 6th INNING – Channell reaches on error, Brockenbrough scores, 8-3
Clemson – 6th INNING – Knowler sacrifice fly, Channell scores, 9-3
Liberty – 7th INNING – Roberts advances, Carrasquillo scores on wild pitch, 9-4
Turning Point
- For the second game in a row, Liberty struck first with a run in the first inning. Clemson rallied for three runs on the second.
- The Lady Flames narrowed the gap to 3-2 with a Brynn McManus sacrifice fly in the third. Clemson pulled away with two runs each in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
- Liberty led Clemson 10-7 in hits, while the Lady Flames committed five errors compared to one for the Tigers. The Lady Flames left 10 runners on base, while Clemson stranded six.
- Sierra Maness (1-0) earned the win for Clemson, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out two in 3 1/3 innings in relief of starter Keira Crosby.
- Katie Love (0-1) drew the loss, yielding five runs (two earned) on three hits, walking three and fanning one in two innings. Gabby Mike pitched three innings, yielding one earned run in three hits, with two walks and three strikeouts. Camden Anders gave up one run in one inning.
- Marian Collins went 3-for-3 for Clemson. Taylor Pipkins doubled, drove in two and scored once. Jamison Brockenbrough and Kiley Channell both scored two runs.
- Paige Doerr went 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored, while Brynn McManus (2-for-3) drove in one run. Brooke Roberts went 2-for-4 with a double.
- Clemson is now 4-1 all-time against Liberty in softball.
- McManus is now tied with Kaylee West (2009-12) for sixth in program history with eight career sacrifice flies.
- Love was making her first start in the circle since April 27, 2024 at UTEP.
- Maci Strickland is the first Lady Flame to have a hit in her first career at bat since Ava Cino, Feb. 18, 2022 against FAU.
- Doerr recorded a hit on the first pitch of both of today's games, scoring a run in the first inning against both Tennessee and Clemson.
Liberty plays twice tomorrow, taking on Missouri at 1 p.m. before facing No. 5 Oregon at 4 p.m. The Lady Flames' 1 p.m. matchup with Missouri will air live nationally on MLB Network.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Karlyn Pickens (1-0)
L: Yoder, Kaylan (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Jessee, Savannah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Doerr, Paige 1
HBP: Jessee, Savannah 1
Batting:
2B: Sophia Knight 1
HR: Emma Clarke 1 ; Taelyn Holley 1
RBI: Elsa Morrison 1 ; Emma Clarke 2 ; Taelyn Holley 1
SF: Elsa Morrison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sophia Knight 1 ; Gabby Leach 1 ; Zoie Shuler 1 ; Ella Dodge 1 ; Emma Clarke 1 ; Taelyn Holley 1
SB: Sophia Knight 1 ; Ella Dodge 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ SoftballStep Into My Office: Dot Richardson
Monday, January 26
Paige Doerr Talks About The Upcoming Softball Season
Friday, January 23
Liberty Softball: The Greatest Victory
Thursday, December 11
Coach Richardson, Elena Escobar & Rachel Roupe Talk About The Game Against Oregon
Sunday, May 25