Not so soft
Flames take weekend series
SPEED — Sophomore in elder Deidra See rounded second base in a loss against Radford.
Photo Credit: Michela Diddle
The Lady Flames Softball team fell to the Radford Highlanders 11-2 in six innings in the third game of the series, marking Liberty’s first conference loss Saturday, March 25 at Kamphuis Field.
Despite winning the first game of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader 6-5, the Lady Flames could not match the offensive firepower of the Highlanders in the
second game.
The loss came after winning two games against Radford and a conference sweep of Charleston Southern, putting the conference record at 5-1 with Liberty holding
on to the top seed.
The loss ended the Lady Flames win streak of eight games, matching the
record set in 2011.
The game began on a bad note for the Lady Flames with sophomore pitcher Chase Cassady walking the first two at-bats. She was replaced with sophomore Julia DiMartino before she could finish the inning, but that did not stop Radford from scoring three runs in the top of the first.
“In the beginning of the second game we struggled pitching-wise in the first inning, and I think that kind of set the tone unfortunately,” Head Coach Dot Richardson said.
Things did not improve for Liberty from there as Radford scored again at the top of the second.
Despite loading bases on two occasions, Liberty had trouble moving over its players and scoring.
“We just needed to make adjustments at the plate overall,” junior third baseman
Alexia Taylor said.
Radford scored five runs, and Cassady returned to the mound with a score of 9-0.
Liberty began to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Taylor scored a run by hitting a triple and was run in with another triple delivered by freshman outfielder Emily Sweat.
“I was just trying to hit something hard to score my teammates, and I was looking for an inside pitch and that’s what I got,”
Sweat said.
Radford covered any ground Liberty made up in the top of the sixth inning by scoring two more runs via a homerun delivered by senior defensive player Brittany Wratchford.
Liberty players who achieved multiple hits are junior outfielder Tori Zavodny (2-for-4), freshman infielder Amber Bishop (2-for-3) and Sweat (2-for-3 with a RBI).
Richardson attributed the loss to pitching.
“I think it really was a pitching performance and leaving runners on base,” Richardson said. “Our pitchers were working on things and, unfortunately, it sometimes takes a loss to experiment like that. But we’re trying to get more endurance from Julia DiMartino, try to get more innings for
Chase Cassady.”
Richardson said it was unusual for the Lady Flames to allow this many runs in a game.
“It’s very rare for us to give up that many runs in the circle,” Richardson said. “Hopefully this is just a one-time deal.”
Richardson mentioned Liberty was playing without one of its lead hitters, freshman catcher Autumn Bishop, who is currently out with a concussion.
The Lady Flames are traveling next to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a three-game series against the No. 19-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.
Panyard is a sports reporter.