Liberty Softball Wins Against UVA 4-3 On April 8
In walk-off fashion, the Liberty University Softball team took down the University of Virginia (UVA) April 8 in a midweek game at Kamphuis Field with a 4-3 final score.
The Lady Flames increased their overall record to 34-8 while the Lady Cavaliers fell 27-13. In the circle for the Lady Flames, senior pitcher Elena Escobar allowed six hits, three earned runs, three walks and eight strikeouts in her six innings on the mound.
Starting in the circle for the Lady Cavaliers, junior pitcher Courtney Layne allowed two hits, one earned run, zero walks and zero strikeouts.
Escobar struck out two batters in the first inning to hold the Lady Cavaliers off.
In the bottom of the first, redshirt senior infielder Savannah Woodard singled to right, then advanced to second after senior outfielder Rachel Roupe grounded a ball out to third. A fly out from junior infielder Brynn McManus and a ground out from senior infielder Brooke Roberts ended the inning.
Heading in the second inning scoreless, Escobar continued to hold UVA to no runs while striking out two and giving up one walk.
In the bottom of the second, with two outs, senior infielder Rachel Craine sent the ball over the center field fence, putting the Lady Flames on the board.
Coming in for relief for UVA, junior pitcher Eden Bigham allowed four hits, three runs, two earned runs, three walks and one strikeout.
In the top of the third, the Lady Cavaliers scored a home run of their own, tying the game back up 1-1. Following the home run, Liberty’s defense shut down UVA’s momentum with a double play on a sacrifice bunt. Escobar tagged the runner out at third.
In the bottom of the third, Woodard singled on a hardline drive to right, but was left stranded on base with the third out. The Lady Flames returned to the dugout before they could put another run on the board.
The game entered the fourth inning with a tied score, and Liberty and UVA both held three hits and zero errors.
Head Coach Dot Richardson said she tries to keep positivity flowing through the dugout in close games like this.
“That’s what I need to do,” Head Coach Dot Richardson said. “Keep everybody loose and confident and hopefully inspired.”
To begin the fourth, the Lady Cavaliers were unable to collect any hits as Woodard traveled behind first base to grab a fly ball and Escobar stood her ground and earned another strikeout.
Moving to the bottom of the inning, Roberts singled up the middle. Senior outfielder KK Madrey reached on a fielder’s choice as Roberts reached on an error. Sophomore outfielder Paige Doerr placed a sacrifice bunt, allowing Roberts and Madrey to advance to the next base. Craine, up to bat, sent a sacrifice fly to right center, and Roberts was able to score.
In the fifth inning, neither team added to the score as UVA left a runner on and the Lady Flames left two runners stranded.
With the Lady Flames leading 2-1, anticipation built going into the sixth inning. Redshirt junior infielder Savannah Whatley made a driving stop at shortstop, holding UVA sophomore outfielder Kamyria Woody-Giggetts up at first base and preventing the ball from entering the outfield. With a sacrifice bunt, Woody-Giggetts advanced to second before a single to center field allowed her to score, tying the game 2-2. The Lady Flames got out of the inning with a line drive caught by Escobar.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Flames were unable to claim the lead, heading into the seventh inning all tied up.
“When you have a team as mature and experienced that we have of ours, … they’re able to talk through it and share at bats with each other and not get too hyped and not too low,” Richardson said.
Still battling, the Lady Cavaliers began the seventh inning with a home run after senior pitcher Paige Bachman stepped onto the mound for the Lady Flames. With one inning pitched, Bachman allowed one hit, no runs, one walk and no strikeouts.
“We were going to take Elena Escobar … as long as we could, and then bring in a drop ball pitcher, which would be (Bachman), because they’re totally opposite of each other,” Richardson said.
Holding the Lady Cavaliers to one run, the Lady Flames entered the bottom of the seventh down by one.
The crowd waited with anticipation for the next pitch where Woodard grounded out to the pitcher. Following this, both Roupe and senior infielder Alyssa Henault, pinch hitting for McManus, ended their at bats after being hit by the pitch. With two runners on, junior utility Aubry Norris was put in to pinch run for Roupe. Roberts laced a double deep to left center, and Norris and Henault crossed the plate in walk-off fashion.
“I am normally more confident with two strikes anyway,” Roberts said. “Once I got two strikes, I was even calmer, and I just saw a pitch and hit it.”
This walk off win was the second for the Lady Flames this season followed by the first during the season opener against Radford University.
“It was just a big game, and I knew somebody needed to step up, and being a leader, a senior on the team, I feel like it’s on me to do that,” Roberts said.
The Lady Flames travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico to face New Mexico State University for a conference series April 11-13. Steam all three games on ESPN+.
Youngworth is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.