Liberty Softball makes history by defeating No. 1 Aggies to advance to first-ever Super Regionals

College Station, Texas – For the first time in program history, Liberty University Softball is headed to the Super Regionals. Liberty stunned No.1 Texas A&M in the winner-take-all final of the Bryan-College Station Regional, winning 6-5 on Sunday night at Davis Diamond to punch the Lady Flames’ first ticket to the NCAA Super Regionals, where they will challenge the University of Oregon.

A No. 1 national seed has never been shut out from advancing to the Super Regionals since seeding began in 2005.

The Lady Flames (50-13) defeated Texas A&M 8-5 on Saturday then fell to the Aggies 14-11 in eight innings in Sunday’s first game, setting up the winner-take-all final on Sunday night. The Aggies finish their season with a 48-11 record.

Senior outfielder and CUSA Player of the Year Rachel Roupe made play after play in both games against the Aggies on Sunday, including an eventual 14-11 loss that forced the decisive game seven. After hitting a grand slam in the first tilt, she homered twice in the victory, including a go-ahead three-run blast with two outs in the top of the sixth that served as the game-winner.

CUSA Pitcher of the Year Elena Escobar (25-3) logged another gutsy postseason start, earning the win after tossing 5.1 innings and striking out three Aggies. She finished the regional with 414 pitches thrown over 22 innings in four games. However, it was sophomore Kaylan Yoder, who shut the door with 1.2 innings of relief. Her one strikeout resulted in the game-ending out.

After falling behind 3-0, Roupe began to chip away at the deficit with a solo shot in the top of the fifth. In the following inning, catcher Savannah Jessee also left the yard for a two-run blast to even the score.

The Lady Flames (50-13) become the first Conference USA team since 2013 to reach the Super Regionals and the first since 2016 to reach 50 wins in a season.

The best-of-three series against the No. 16 Ducks (50-8) will be played in Eugene, Ore., at Jane Sanders Stadium this weekend (Game 1: Friday, 10 p.m., ESPNU; Game 2: Saturday, 7 p.m., TV TBD; Game 3: Sunday, TBD). The winner of the weekend series will be one of eight teams to advance to the Women’s College World Series scheduled to begin May 29 in Oklahoma City.

Read more on the Lady Flames’ regionals wins and follow their journey to Super Regionals on LibertyFlames.com.