Lady Flames Hit the Road for 6-Game Spring Break Trip
3/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Game Notes
Liberty (20-7, 3-0 Big South), off to a 3-0 start to conference play for the third year in a row, heads on a six-game road trip, starting on Tuesday at 3 p.m., as the Lady Flames take on North Carolina A&T (3-20). The Lady Flames then play a doubleheader at 2018 NISC national semifinalist Kennesaw State (17-9, 2-1 Atlantic Sun), Wednesday at 4 p.m.
The Lady Flames swept Campbell at Liberty Softball Stadium, starting with a two-hit shutout by Julia DiMartino in an 8-0, five-inning victory on Saturday. Liberty then edged the Camels, 4-3, on Jaclyn Amader's walkoff single in game two. A five-run first inning on Sunday pushed Liberty to a 10-3 win in the series finale.
Led by 2017 Big South Coach of the Year Dot Richardson, the defending NISC champion Lady Flames bat .298 as a team, averaging 4.8 runs per game. The Lady Flames hold a 2.98 team ERA, tossing a Big South-best seven shutouts. Liberty also leads the conference with a .977 fielding percentage
Junior Julia DiMartino, reigning Big South Pitcher of the Year, is 13-4 with a 2.33 ERA, leading the Big South in strikeouts (100), shutouts (5), saves (3), appearances (21) and opponents' batting average (.185). Chase Cassady holds a 4-2 record with a 3.39 ERA and one shutout, while Elizabeth Engler (2-0, 2.74 ERA) has also pitched a shutout.
Tori Zavodny paces the team with a .363 batting average and Big South-best four triples, while Autumn Bishop (.356) leads the league with 11 doubles. Taylor Hoffman bats .344, while Sarah Robertson hits .338. Amber Bishop (.326) has posted a team-high three homers and 20 RBI, while Jaclyn Amader hits .325. Seven Lady Flames bat .300 or better.
Quick Hits
- The Lady Flames enter the week on a four-game winning streak.
- Liberty was picked to finish second in the Big South preseason poll. Julia DiMartino is Preseason Pitcher of the Year, and Amber Bishop is Preseason Player of the Year.
- Liberty had a program-record four players named to the NFCA All-Region team in 2017.
- Julia DiMartino was named Big South Softball Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
- The Lady Flames have won two games when behind entering the seventh inning in 2018.
Liberty vs. North Carolina A&T
North Carolina A&T heads into the week with a 3-20 record, losing six straight games, and 15 out of 16 after starting the season 2-5. The Aggies are 0-3 against Big South teams this season.
Marcy Jiles bats .368 for the Aggies, while Zadaisha Waddell hits .317. Stephanie Williams has posted a team-best 10 RBI, and the team has not hit a home run yet this season. Mahogany Headen is 1-5 and leads the team with a 6.22 ERA.
The Lady Flames shut out North Carolina A&T, 10-0, on March 14, 2017 at Liberty Softball Stadium. Chase Cassady tossed a four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts in the five-inning game. Liberty hit three homers, one each by Autumn Bishop, Tori Zavodny and Deidra See.
Liberty vs. Kennesaw State
2017 NISC Region 5 champion Kennesaw State is 17-9 on the season, including 2-1 in Atlantic Sun play after winning a low-scoring series at USC Upstate that only featured five total runs.
Patricia Awald bats .463 with six homers and 23 RBI, while 2017 second team all-conference player Olivia Tamewitz hits .409 and Kira Czyrklis hits .327. 2017 Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year Alley Cutting is 6-4 with a 1.23 ERA.
Liberty overcame a 5-0, third-inning deficit, scoring 13 unanswered runs to beat the Owls, 13-5 in six innings, in the 2017 Postseason NISC semifinal, May 24, 2017 at Liberty Softball Stadium. Tori Zavodny and Amber Bishop both had three hits for Liberty, while Zavodny drove in four runs.
Best When it Counts
After its 4-3, walk-off win over Campbell last Saturday, Liberty is now 6-1 in one-run games during the 2018 season after going 6-8 in such games last year.
Liberty is also 3-5 when trailing or tied entering the seventh inning this year, after going 5-20 in those situations in 2017.
On Feb. 16 against Central Michigan, Amber Bishop tied the game at 3-all with a seventh-inning solo homer, before Tori Zavodny's go-ahead triple in the ninth won it, 4-3.
The Lady Flames erased one-run deficits in the seventh and eighth against North Carolina before winning, 3-2, on an overthrow when Jaclyn Amader stole third in the ninth on Feb. 22.
Winningest Month
Liberty went 11-4 in May 2017, the most wins in the month of May in program history. Then, to start this season, Liberty's 10 wins in February are the most February victories in program history.
Dating to March 2017 and including this month (10-3), Liberty has won at least 10 games in each of its last five months of competition.
Team Notes
- Liberty is in the top 20 nationally in triples per game (3rd, 0.48), fielding percentage (13th, .977) and doubles per game (19th - 1.70).
- The Lady Flames have posted seven shutouts so far this season, and blanked their first three opponents of the season for the first time since 1995.
- During its current four-game winning streak, beginning March 10 against Ohio, Liberty has outscored opponents, 24-7, hitting .376 as a team while holding opponents to a .154 batting average.
- Liberty has only played one true away game this season, falling at then No. 20/21 South Carolina, March 2, 2018 in Columbia, S.C.
Player Quick Hits
- Julia DiMartino now ranks third in program history with 52 career wins, and is the first Liberty pitcher to reach 50 career wins as a sophomore.
- Amber Bishop leads the team with 10 multiple-hit games and seven multiple-RBI contests.
- Autumn Bishop recorded hits in each of the first 13 games of the season. She is currently on an eight-game hitting streak, the longest active hitting streak on the team.
- Tori Zavodny is the only player in program history to record 15 or more career doubles, triples and home runs in her career.
- Sarah Robertson has been hit a team-high three times this season. On Sunday against Campbell, Robertson became the 11th player in program history to score four runs in a single game.
- Jaclyn Amader's walk-off hit against Campbell made her the fifth current Lady Flame with a game-winning walk-off hit, joining Cassie Gingerich, Deidra See, Emily Sweat and Jasmeen Click.
- Madison Via batted .500 with four RBI during Liberty's three-game series against Campbell.
- Taylor Hoffman is batting.344 this season and is tied for second on the team with eight multiple-hit games after recording multiple hits just five times as a freshman last year.
- Kaitlin McFarland batted .444 with two doubles, a triple, homer and five RBI in the Campbell series. On Sunday, she batted 2-for-4, setting career highs with two doubles and four RBI.
- Alexia Taylor became Liberty's all-time leader in career sacrifice flies, with her ninth career sac fly, March 9 vs. Delaware.
- For the fourth year in a row, three different Liberty pitchers have pitched at least one shutout.
