Late Run Gives Liberty 2-1 Win Over Ohio
3/10/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Liberty closed out its home invitational with a 2-1 win over Ohio on Saturday, scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
With the win, Liberty improves to 17-7 on the season, including 3-2 at the Liberty Softball Classic. The Lady Flames defeated Ohio twice and Delaware once this week, falling to No. 12/12 Baylor two times. Ohio (9-9) is 1-3 at the Liberty Softball Classic heading into the final game of the weekend, tomorrow against Delaware at noon.
Julia DiMartino (10-4) earned the win, allowing one run on four hits, walking two and striking out six in a complete-game effort. She is now in sole possession of fourth place in program history with 49 career wins.
Maddi McCrady (2-3) sustained the setback, allowing one run on three hits, with two strikeouts and one walk in three relief innings. Starting pitcher Kendall Meeks lasted two innings, giving up one run on four hits. Danielle Stiene pitched the final inning, yielding one hit while striking out two and walking one.
Tori Zavodny went 2-for-3 with one run scored for Liberty, while Autumn Bishop batted 1-for-3 with a double and one run. Amber Bishop and Jaclyn Amader recorded one RBI apiece, and Kaitlin McFarland doubled.
Ohio's Mikayla Cooper batted 1-for-4 with a triple and one run scored, while Michaela Dorsey went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
With the game tied a 1-all, Zavodny got things going with a one-out single in the home half of the fifth. A groundout sent her to second before Amader singled to left, plating Zavodny for a 2-1 lead. Alexia Taylor flied out to center for the third out.
Katie Yun led off the sixth with a single, and Ohio sacrificed her to second. A strikeout and a groundout then ended the threat.
Liberty managed a hit and a walk off of reliever Danielle Stiene in the sixth, but the Ohio pitcher got out of the inning by getting Amber Bishop to foul out.
Ohio got the tying run on base in the top of the seventh, as MacKenzie Brunswick drew a leadoff walk. A sacrifice bunt sent her to second, before DiMartino sealed the win by striking out Alex Day and getting Cooper to pop out on the infield.
Both teams scored in the first inning. Cooper hit a one-out triple down the line in right and then scored when Dorsey lined a single through the left side for a 1-0 lead.
Liberty responded quickly, as Autumn Bishop hit a leadoff double in the home half of the first, and Amber Bishop drove her in with a single to center. A groundout sent Amber Bishop to second, but she later ended the inning when she was caught trying to steal third.
Liberty left two runners on base in the second, third and fourth innings. During the second, Alexia Taylor singled with one out, and McFarland followed by doubling to right center. However, Meeks kept Liberty off the board, getting two groundouts.
McCrady entered the circle to start the bottom of the third. Liberty put two runners on with one out, as Amber Bishop reached on an error and Zavodny singled to left center. McCrady retired the next two batters, keeping the scored tied at 1-1.
A hit batter and a walk gave Liberty two runners with one out in the fourth inning. McCrady then struck out Jasmeen Click and got Autumn Bishop to fly out on a deep fly ball to right center.
DiMartino retired 11 batters in a row, spanning the first through fifth innings. An error with one out in the top of the fifth opened the door for an Ohio scoring chance. After a popout, Taylor Saxton singled, and DiMartino walked Day to load the bases for Cooper. The Liberty right-hander won a six-pitch battle, striking out Cooper to strand all three runners.
Liberty will head to Charlottesville, Va., on Wednesday for a single game at ACC member Virginia. First pitch for Wednesday's contest at The Park is set for 6 p.m.
