Liberty Softball to Take on Virginia in Midweek Home-and-Home Series
4/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Game Notes
Liberty (26-16, 7-2 Big South), riding a seven-game winning streak, steps outside of Big South play for a home-and-home series with Virginia (14-26, 3-12 ACC). The two teams will meet for a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday at Liberty Softball Stadium before playing a single game at The Park in Charlottesville, Va., on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Virginia is 30-8 against Liberty since the start of the 1994 season. However, Liberty and Virginia have split their doubleheader head-to-head each of the last two years.
Lady Flames at a Glance
The Lady Flames opened their six-game homestand with five straight wins last week, outscoring Hampton and Presbyterian by a combined 40-1. Liberty held PC without a single run in a three-game sweep, the first time in program history that the Lady Flames have held a Big South opponent scoreless for an entire three-game series.
Tori Zavodny leads the Big South with a .420 batting average. Autumn Bishop follows at .404, with a team-leading 11 doubles. Amber Bishop (.376) ranks second in the conference in hits (53) and RBI (40), also hitting eight homers. Sarah Robertson (.350) has hit 11 doubles and is second on the team with 30 RBI, while Jasmeen Click (.348) paces the team in stolen bases (19). Alexia Taylor hits .340, while Emily Sweat bats .311.
In the circle, Kenzie Friesen (10-1) leads the Big South with a 2.05 ERA. Julia DiMartino (9-6) has a 2.47 ERA with three shutouts and a Big South-leading 104 strikeouts. Friesen and Chase Cassady (4-7, 4.77 ERA) have both tossed two shutouts this year.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Fans can follow both games this week through live stats. Tuesday's game will air on Big South Network and ESPN3, with Alan York calling play-by-play and former Liberty Head Softball Coach Paul Wetmore providing analysis. Tuesday's contest will air on radio on 90.9 FM The Light, with Jamie Hall serving as play-by-play announcer.
Quick Hits
- Liberty has held opponents without a run for the last 21 2/3 innings.
- The Lady Flames have posted 10 run-rule victories, their most since 12 in 1997.
- Liberty leads the Big South and ranks 17th in the nation with a .325 batting average.
- Amber Bishop's 40 RBI are the most by a Lady Flame since Sammi Shivock's 43 in 2013.
- Liberty Softball Stadium was voted sixth-best softball stadium by FloSoftball.com.
- This is the first time since 2008 that three Liberty pitchers have posted multiple shutouts.
- Dot Richardson needs three more wins for 100 in her head coaching career.
- Sarah Robertson needs one more hit to reach 100 for her career.
Liberty vs. Virginia (Since 1994, Virginia leads, 30-8) Current Series Streak: UVA W1
Last Meeting: Virginia 9, Liberty 7 (4/20/16 - Game 2 - Charlottesville, Va.)
Last Liberty Win: Liberty 1, Virginia 0 (4/20/16 - Game 1 - Charlottesville, Va.)
Virginia (14-26, 3-12 ACC) picked up a doubleheader split at No. 14 James Madison last Tuesday, before splitting a twin bill at George Mason the following day. The Cavaliers rank 10th in the nation with 1.63 doubles per game. Katie Park bats .336 with a team-high six homers and 21 RBI, while Allison Davis hits .328 with five homers and 18 RBI. Erika Osherow holds a 9-15 record and 5.24 ERA in the circle.
Virginia is 30-8 against Liberty since the start of the 1994 season. Liberty and Virginia have split their doubleheader head-to-head each of the last two years. The Lady Flames have never swept the season series from the Cavaliers.
Virginia is 0-4 against Big South teams this year, falling once each to Charleston Southern and Radford while dropping a doubleheader to Longwood. Meanwhile, Liberty is 2-0 versus ACC opponents this year, defeating Syracuse and NC State.
The Cavaliers' first-year head coach, Joanna Hardin, was a graduate assistant at Liberty in 2008 and 2009.
Liberty vs. Virginia - 2016 Recap
Liberty and Virginia split a doubleheader, April 20, 2016 at The Park.
Julia DiMartino tossed a two-hit shutout and Kassidy McCoy hit a solo homer in a 1-0, game-one victory for Liberty.
Game two saw the Cavaliers jump out to an 8-3 lead before holding on for a 9-7 win.
Tori Zavodny went 3-for-6 against Virginia last year. DiMartino (7.0 IP) and Kenzie Friesen (4.0 IP) have not allowed a run to the Cavaliers in their career.
Team Notes
- Since starting the season at 10-12, Liberty is 16-4 in its last 20 games.
- Liberty is 11-3 at home, batting .364 and scoring 7.4 runs per game at Liberty Softball Stadium. The Lady Flames have also tossed five shutouts at home this year.
- Liberty's program record for consecutive shutouts is five, from March 26-28, 1997.
- The Lady Flames have outscored opponents, 55-5, during their current seven-game winning streak. Liberty's longest winning streak so far this year was eight games, from March 10 through 25. The longest winning streak in program history was 12 games, in 2010.
- The last time Liberty played a scheduled home-and-home series on back-to-back days was in 2008, a home twin bill with Radford on April 19 and one game at Radford, April 20.
Player Notes
- Kenzie Friesen (10-3, 2.05 ERA) has not allowed a run in her last 13 innings pitched, dating to the second inning of last Tuesday's game against Hampton.
- Julia DiMartino (9-6, 2.47 ERA) has not allowed a run in her last 15 2/3 innings pitched, a stretch that includes two complete-game shutouts and 26 strikeouts.
- Deidra See batted .538 (7-for-13) with two doubles, one homer and six RBI in five games last week. She improved her season batting average from .244 to .282 in the process.
- Tori Zavodny leads the Big South with a .420 batting average. She ranks fourth in program history in career runs (117) and walks (65), and third in triples (11).
- Amber Bishop (.376) paces Liberty with eight homers and 40 RBI. She needs two more home runs to break Sammi Shivock's (2011) Liberty freshman home run record, nine.
- Autumn Bishop (.404) is tied for the team lead with 11 doubles and three triples, tying a program single-game record with two triples against Morgan State, Feb. 12.
- Sarah Robertson (.350) has recorded 11 doubles and 30 RBI. She needs one more hit to become the fifth Liberty player to reach 100 career hits as a sophomore.
- Alexia Taylor (.340) is Liberty's active career leader in hits (152), doubles (30) and RBI (82). Last year, she became the fourth Liberty sophomore to reach 100 career hits.
- Jaclyn Amader hit a walk-off home run in Saturday's second game against Presbyterian, ending it via run-rule, 8-0, in the fifth inning. It was her first homer of the season.
- Jasmeen Click (.348) needs one more stolen base to become the seventh player in program history with 20 or more steals in a single season.
- Kaitlin McFarland batted 4-for-9 (.444) with two RBI and three runs scored, last week.
- Emily Sweat (.311) has Liberty's lone game-winning, walk-off hit so far this season, hitting a game-winning, two-run single to end a 6-5 win over Radford, March 25.