Liberty Set to Host Commonwealth Rival Radford in Midweek Series
4/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Game Notes
Liberty closes its nine-game homestand this week, hosting Radford in a three-game series. The Lady Flames and Highlanders will contest a doubleheader on Tuesday at 2 p.m., while playing a single game, Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Lady Flames (17-20, 6-6 Big South) went 2-1 vs. Presbyterian last weekend, while Radford (9-18, 4-4) has not played a Big South game since March 29 against Charleston Southern.
In a pregame ceremony on Friday, Liberty renamed its new softball facility Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium. Former head coach Paul Wetmore gave the invocation, while Liberty President Jerry Falwell and current head coach Dot Richardson threw out ceremonial first pitches. The field is named after legendary fast pitch pitcher Dwayne Kamphuis, who was a member of the famed "King and His Court" team from 1966-83.
Lady Flames at a Glance
Liberty won two out of three games against Presbyterian last week, sweeping a doubleheader, 7-3 and 2-0, on Friday, before falling, 10-2, on Saturday. The Lady Flames have now posted five shutouts this season, including three in conference play.
Megan Robinson and Alexia Taylor are tied at .339 for the team's highest average.
Kelby Allen bats .336 with a team-high 20 RBI. Taylor leads the team with 12 two-hit games, while Tori Zavodny (.313) paces Liberty in six offensive categories. Mickey Loveridge (.303) has nine doubles. Chandler Ball (11-7, 3.13 ERA) has tossed three shutouts, while Kenzie Friesen (5-9) pitched her her second two-hit shutout, Friday versus PC.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Fans can follow the Liberty-Radford series through live stats, live audio and live video. All three games will air on the Big South Network and ESPN3, with Alan York calling play-by-play and former Liberty head coach Paul Wetmore providing color analysis. All three contests will be broadcast on radio on 90.9 FM The Light, with Nick Pierce serving as play-by-play announcer on Tuesday and Kevin Keys on play-by-play, Wednesday.
Quick Hits
- Liberty is in the midst of a stretch where 18 out of 21 games will be at home.
- Chandler Ball (3) and Kenzie Friesen (2) have both thrown multiple shutouts in 2015.
- Ball has set new career highs with 11 wins and three shutouts.
- In nine games as leadoff hitter, Alexia Taylor has batted .367 with nine runs scored.
- Taylor and Tori Zavodny are tied for the team lead with five home runs each.
- Kelby Allen ranks in the top 10 at Liberty in career hits, home runs, RBI and sacrifice flies.
- Six Lady Flames have recorded a three-hit game this season.
Liberty vs. Radford (Radford leads, 48-26)
Current Series Streak: Radford W4
Last Meeting: Radford 10, Liberty 2 (6) (4/9/14 - Radford, Va.)
Last Liberty Win: Liberty 7, Radford 0 (4/3/13 - Lynchburg, Va. - Game 1)
Radford (9-18, 4-4 Big South) staged a dramatic seven-run, two-out rally in the seventh inning to down ETSU, 7-6, in its last game, April 1. Casey Burns leads the Highlanders with a .324 average and nine doubles, while Maggie Rowe hits .318. Whitney Davis (.316) and Becky Mantel (.301) are tied for the team lead with five home runs. Abby Morrow (2-4) has posted a 2.36 ERA, while Taylor Asimakopoulos is 3-2 with a 5.38 ERA.
The Highlanders are 48-26 all-time against Liberty, winning four meetings in a row and eight out of the last nine, dating to the 2012 season. One of Liberty's biggest wins in program history came on May 14, 2011, when the Lady Flames downed Radford in the 2011 Big South Softball Championship final.
Liberty vs. Radford - 2014 Recap
Radford posted a 3-0 series sweep of the Lady Flames last year at RU Softball Stadium.
The Highlanders won game one on April 8, 12-0, getting two home runs from Becky Mantel.
During the nightcap, April 8, the Highlanders posted a 16-5 win, with Jessie Hutchens and Mackenzie Blackwell both homering. Liberty's Katie Zavodny stole her 98th career base, tying her for second in Big South history at the time.
Radford completed the sweep with a 10-2 win on April 9, as Hutchens and Whitney Davis hit two homers apiece. Liberty's Grace Nordan and Blair Lawrence both went 2-for-2 in the series finale.
No Place Like Home
After opening the season with 26 out of its first 31 games away from home, the Lady Flames are in a stretch where 18 out of 21 games will be held at home. This includes a pair of nine-game homestands, with Big South opponents Longwood (March 31-April 1), Presbyterian (April 3-4), Radford (April 7-8) and Coastal Carolina (April 18-19) and doubleheaders against Virginia Tech (April 14), Hampton (April 21) and Virginia (April 22).
The Lady Flames have gone 5-6 at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium so far this season. Alexia Taylor has batted .429 with three homers and nine runs scored in home games, while Megan Robinson has hit .387 at home. Kassidy McCoy hits .313, while Mickey Loveridge is at .296. Tori Zavodny has hit three homers and driven in eight at Liberty Softball Stadium. Chandler Ball is 3-1 with a 1.66 ERA and .202 opponents batting average at home, while Kenzie Friesen has tossed one shutout in Lynchburg.
Early Trends
Liberty is 14-3 when allowing six or fewer hits, and 3-17 when opponents record seven or more hits. The team is 17-8 when its starting pitcher throws five or more innings, and 0-12 when the starter does not last five innings. The Lady Flames have gone 13-1 when holding opponents to two runs or less, and 4-19 when allowing three or more runs.
Weekend Recap
Liberty swept Presbyterian in a doubleheader on Friday, its third twin bill sweep.
In game one, Kelby Allen, Mickey Loveridge and Kassidy McCoy had two hits each and Alexia Taylor and Madison Kotchey both homered.
During the second game, Kenzie Friesen tossed her second shutout, a two-hitter, in a 5-0 Liberty win.
Taylor and Tori Zavodny both homered during the series finale on Saturday, but PC pulled away with eight unanswered runs, winning, 10-2.
Do Not Pass Go
Kenzie Friesen pitched her second two-hit shutout of the season, Friday against Presbyterian. Teammate Chandler Ball has tossed three shutouts this year. The last time two Lady Flames pitched multiple shutouts in the same season was 2011, when Tiffani Smith threw three shutouts and Katrina Johnson had two.
Earlier this year, Ball was named Big South Pitcher of the Week, Feb. 17. Ball is 8-2 with a 1.52 ERA and .223 opponents' batting average in her last 17 appearances. Friesen is 5-7 since March 6, with two two-hitters and two three-hitters during that time.
Ball (four hits) and Friesen (two) posted back-to-back shutouts over Campbell, March 28, the first time since May 13, 2011 that Liberty had recorded two consecutive shutouts.
Start it Up
Alexia Taylor has posted a team-best 12 two-hit games so far this season. Taylor has served as Liberty's leadoff batter during the last nine games, during which time she leads the Lady Flames with a .367 batting average and nine runs scored.
Taylor led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run on Friday against Presbyterian, jump-starting a 7-3 win. She is the first Lady Flame to lead off a game with a home run since Jill Stephens at Radford on March 28, 2012.
Liberty has gotten five home runs from the leadoff spot this season, as Tori Zavodny hit three homers as the top batter in the order and Taylor has hit two bombs in the leadoff position. Taylor and Zavodny are tied for the overall team lead with five homers.
Off and Running
Liberty is off and running again this season, stealing 58 bases in 37 games. The Lady Flames lead the Big South with 1.57 stolen bases per game. Tori Zavodny is second in the conference with 18 stolen bases, while Blair Lawrence has swiped 14 bases, tying for third in the Big South. Zavodny's 18 steals are tied for ninth with Libi Cook (1998) in a single season in program history.
The Lady Flames led the Big South and ranked 23rd nationally with 92 stolen bases last season. The program record of 93 was set in 1996.
3-Hit Club
So far this year, six different Lady Flames have posted at least one three-hit game.
Tori Zavodny has had four three-hit games. Megan Robinson and Kelby Allen have registered two three-hit games apiece, while Jamie Crisp, Blair Lawrence and Mickey Loveridge have one apiece.
Allen leads current Lady Flames with eight career three-hit games. The other current Lady Flames to post a three-hit game during their time at Liberty are: Robinson (5), Zavodny (4), Crisp (2), Katie Han (2), Kassidy McCoy (2), Lawrence (2) and Loveridge (1).
Quick Conference Report at Halfway Mark
Liberty is batting .278 as a team while posting a 3.82 ERA in 12 conference games. The Lady Flames are tied for the conference lead with three shutouts in league play.
In conference play, Alexia Taylor leads the team with a .381 average, three homers and 10 RBI. Megan Robinson (.364) and Kassidy McCoy (.357) follow. Mickey Loveridge has hit .344 in Big South games, while Kelby Allen hits .314. Tori Zavodny (.294) paces the team with 11 runs scored and five stolen bases.
Chandler Ball is 3-2 with a 2.12 ERA and one shutout in conference contests, while Kenzie Friesen (3-4) is tied with PC's Kensley Loudermelk for the league lead with two shutouts in Big South games.