The Lady Flames Softball team opened its home schedule Feb. 20-21 with the annual Liberty Softball Classic at Kamphuis Field.
Liberty opened play with the first three innings dominated by defense and pitching on both sides. The Lady Flames broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning and put together a three-run rally.
Liberty stretched the advantage to 7–2 in the bottom of the fifth and sixth. Toledo attempted a push in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs, but the Lady Flames maintained control to secure the win.
Shortly after the first game finished, Liberty faced Syracuse in a competitive matchup that ended in a 5–3 loss for the Lady Flames.
Liberty’s offense came alive when redshirt junior catcher Savannah Jessee stole two bases to put her on third. Sophomore catcher Alexia Carrasquillo delivered a hit to bring Jessee home, giving Liberty a 2–0 lead.
Syracuse responded in the top of the third inning with three runs, putting pressure back on Liberty. The Lady Flames answered in the fifth inning when senior infielder Brynn McManus tied the game at 3–3.
The game remained tight until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Syracuse broke the tie with a two-run home run to take the lead and the win 5-3.
“I think there comes a point when the team says — enough is enough,” Richardson said.
The following day, Liberty came back with a 3–2 win over Maryland. Liberty claimed the lead in the first inning, highlighted by Jessee driving a run and Carrasquillo later sending a ball over the center-field fence for a two-run home run. The Lady Terrapins chipped away at the score late in the game, but the Lady Flames held on and secured the victory.
“Knowing that defense is going well and having that kind of settled down confidence makes it a lot easier in the box,” Jessee said.
The Lady Flames closed the tournament under the lights with a rematch against Syracuse and delivered one of their strongest performances of the season.
Liberty’s defense was led by sophomore pitcher Danner Allen, who had an impressive night on the mound after several games off.
“Danner today just got it done against Syracuse,” Richardson said. “Seven strikeouts — and that’s just really great to see because that’s what we need.”
The Lady Flames defense held Syracuse scoreless through the first two innings, only letting the Lady Orange get a couple hits early on.
Jessee crushed a three-run homer in the bottom of the second, driving in two teammates and giving Liberty the lead, 3-0.
Richardson reflected on the value of leadership from players on the offense.
“Savannah Jessee — from week one, she’s got it done,” Richardson said, “She hasn’t stopped since then. Another is Ella Fox, she’s just that scrappy energizer, just totally the passion of the game. Another rising star is Maci Strickland.”
Fox scored multiple times by utilizing aggressive baserunning, while Strickland and Carrasquillo drove in runs with extra base hits and singles.
The Lady Flames secured a shutout victory, 7–0, to close their performance in the tournament.
Richardson has high expectations for her team this season and how she thinks they can succeed.
“I believe with the talent on this team, it means we could go really far,” Richardson said. “But you have to have that mindset. To play with freedom, and when you play with freedom, there’s nothing like it.”
The Lady Flames return to Kamphuis Field for the Liberty Softball Invitational Feb 27–28. They will face Radford University, Marshall University and the University of Connecticut. First pitch is at 3 p.m. Friday. Both Radford games can be streamed on ESPN+.
Potter is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.