Liberty’s softball team’s record-breaking season included a third Big South Conference championship and third NCAA postseason appearance, where the team recorded wins for the first time in regional play and extended its program-record winning streak to 19.
The Lady Flames won their first two NCAA Regional games May 18-19 in Columbia, S.C., over No. 24 Hofstra and No. 11 South Carolina. The wins were Liberty’s seventh and eighth in team history over Top 25 programs.
Junior pitcher Julia DiMartino peaked in the postseason, improving to 29-7 on the year with the two regional wins.
Head Coach Dot Richardson, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, guided the Lady Flames to a program-record 49 wins on the season.
Richardson, a starting shortstop for Team USA for the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and Australia in 2000, showcased her recruiting clout in California (where she enjoyed a Hall of Fame collegiate career at UCLA) and her home state of Florida. Eleven of the 24 players on the Lady Flames’ roster hail from those two softball hotbeds, including sophomore infielder Amber Bishop and her twin sister, Autumn Bishop, of Murrieta, Calif. They ignited Liberty’s attack with identical .365 batting averages.
