Defending CUSA regular season and tournament champion, Liberty has been voted by the league’s head coaches as the favorite to repeat as champions this season, as announced by the league Thursday. Meanwhile, outfielder Rachel Roupe has been named the Preseason Player of the Year while Elena Escobar has been named the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Roupe has been racking up the preseason accolades, including the No. 38 spot on Softball American’s Preseason Top 100, the No. 42 spot on D1 Softball’s D100 list, and the No. 13 outfielder in D1 Softball’s Preseason Position Rankings. She is coming off a season where she was named 2nd-team All-Region and 1st-team All-CUSA after leading CUSA in doubles (17), walks (48), on base percentage (.509) and OPS (1.273).
Escobar was 16-7 with a 2.75 ERA last season, tying for the CUSA lead in wins. The transfer from North Alabama was in her first season as a Lady Flame. She was named 2nd-team All-CUSA and to the CUSA All-Tournament Team. Escobar finished 2024 ranked third in CUSA in both ERA and strikeouts (130).
Liberty earned a league-high four selections to the preseason all-conference team and earned nine first-place votes and 99 total points in the preseason poll. The Lady Flames were also represented on the all-conference team by Brynn McManus and Kaylan Yoder.
The Lady Flames open the season in Leesburg, Florida at THE Spring Games. Liberty opens against Radford on Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. and Louisville at 6:30 p.m. After spending the first couple of weeks in Florida, Liberty’s home opener is a double-header on Feb. 21 against Hofstra and noon and then Charleston Southern at 2 p.m.
Under head coach Dot Richardson, Liberty is coming off another championship season. In 2024, the Lady Flames were 38-25 overall and 19-5 in CUSA play. After winning the CUSA championship, Liberty advanced to the Athens Regional where the Lady Flames defeated No. 25 Charlotte and No. 11 Georgia to open regional play before dropping two straight to the host Georgia, including a 3-2 loss in the Regional Final, to end the season.
2025 CUSA Softball Preseason Poll
- Liberty 99 (9)
- Western Kentucky 83
- New Mexico State 82 (1)
- Louisiana Tech 71
- Jacksonville State 56
- Sam Houston 38
- UTEP 36
- FIU 35
- Middle Tennessee 30
- Kennesaw State 20
CUSA Softball Preseason Player of the Year
Rachel Roupe, Liberty
CUSA Softball Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Elena Escobar, Liberty
CUSA Softball Preseason All-Conference Team
C Ansley Blevins, Middle Tennessee
C Bella Perez, Sam Houston
DP/UT Brynn McManus, Liberty
IF Ashley Phillips, Jax State
IF Claire Raley, Louisiana Tech
IF Elia Hebel, Sam Houston
IF Ajia Richard, UTEP
IF Morgan Sharpe, Western Kentucky
OF Kally Meredith, FIU
OF Rachel Roupe, Liberty
OF Alexis Gilio, Louisiana Tech
OF Devin Elam, New Mexico State
P Elena Escobar, Liberty”
P Kaylan Yoder, Liberty
P Desirae Spearman, New Mexico State
