Update: Liberty and Georgia will meet in the rematch in the Regional Final. The Bulldogs escaped elimination with a 5-0 win over Charlotte on Saturday evening. The game is scheduled for Noon and will be televised on ESPN2.
The 49ers, after losing to Liberty in the regional opener Friday, defeated UNC Wilmington earlier in the day Saturday in an elimination game. Charlotte had to immediately prepare to face the No. 11 national seed and regional host Georgia.
The Bulldogs will have to defeat the Lady Flames twice Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals. Liberty will need just one win to advance to the program’s first ever Super Regional.
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Liberty utilized clutch hitting and strong pitching to defeat No. 11 Georgia, 7-3, on Saturday. With the win, the Lady Flames advance to the Athens Regional Final on Sunday.
The host Bulldogs began the game with a leadoff home run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. The Flames proved it would be a tough out in the bottom of the first, as Rachel Roupe scored on Megan Fortner’s sacrifice fly to tie the contest.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Brooke Roberts absolutely destroyed a pitch that went over the scoreboard behind the right field fence. It was a two-run bomb, giving Liberty the 3-1 lead, as Roberts, last week’s CUSA Tournament MVP, continues her hot play.
Meanwhile, after allowing the first two Georgia batters to get on base, including that leadoff HR, Kaylan Yoder retired eight straight batters, That streak ended in the third, when the Bulldogs put its first three batters on base, loading the bases. Liberty head coach Dot Richardson would turn to the bullpen and bring in Elena Escobar. Georgia would score two runs to tie the game, but Escobar would limit the damage there as the Bulldogs left the bases loaded.
Once again it was the fourth inning where the Lady Flames did the bulk of their damage. In Friday’s regional opener, Liberty plated five runs in the fourth inning, helping the team to the 6-3 win over Charlotte. On Saturday, the Flames brought across four runs in the fourth to take control of the game at 7-3. Brynn McManus hit a bases clearing double to score three of those runs.
Coming on in relief of Yoder, Escobar pitched four innings, not allowing a run while giving up two hits and striking out three. It marks the second straight day the senior recorded the win for the Flames after she pitched a complete game Friday against the 49ers.
Liberty is now 6-9 against Top 25 teams this season, and have won three straight against ranked foes after defeating LSU in the regular season finale followed by wins over Charlotte and Georgia in the Athens Regional. The six wins against ranked foes sets a program record for the most Top 25 victories in a single season.
The Lady Flames improve to 9-8 in NCAA Regional play under head coach Dot Richardson and 9-12 all-time. This marks just the second time Liberty has won its first two games of a regional. In 2018, the Lady Flames won its first two games of the Columbia Regional, defeating Hofstra and South Carolina before losing to the Gamecocks twice in the regional final.
This marks the fourth regional final Liberty has reached in the past six years including two straight. The Lady Flames are just one win away from advancing to the program’s first ever Super Regional.
No. 11 Georgia now awaits the winner of Saturday afternoon’s elimination game between Charlotte and UNC Wilmington. The winner of that contest will take on the Bulldogs in a game later in the day Saturday, tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m.
The winner of that contest will advance to Sunday’s regional final against Liberty where the Lady Flames will have to lose twice to be eliminated. Sunday’s game time and television location is still to be determined.
