Lady Flames Softball Dominates Charleston Southern

The Lady Flames softball team (36-12, 15-3) swept the Charleston Southern University Buccaneers (25-27, 6-12) in a three-game series Friday and Saturday.

The series consisted of one game Friday evening and a double header Saturday afternoon. Liberty dominated the series by a cumulative score of 18-4.

The three wins pushed the Lady Flames to first place in Big South play and extended their win streak to a total of six games in a row.

The Lady Flames won the final game Saturday afternoon 8-2 after winning the first game of the double header 5-2 and Friday’s game 5-0.

“I am really pleased with the game today. To sweep a team in conference is not an easy feat to accomplish,” Lady Flames head coach Dot Richardson said. “It is really difficult to be able to sweep, and particularly a double header. That’s why a lot of conferences have gone to one game on Friday, one game on Saturday, and one on Sunday, because it is tough to come back and play that second game to win.”

 

Game 1 – Friday, April 20

Peter Gooch

 

Fireworks exploded into the Friday night sky above Liberty Softball Stadium’s Kamphius Field April 20 following a 5-0 Liberty University win over the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in the opening contest of a three-game weekend series.

Less than an hour earlier, in the game’s fifth inning, Lady Flames second baseman Amber Bishop and catcher Kaitlin McFarland each smashed home runs to center field that sent the crowd to their feet.

“When she hit it, there was no doubt,” Richardson said of McFarland’s homer. “It was like, ‘Oh, that’s gone.’”

McFarland’s two-run blast hit the middle of the scoreboard beyond center field and provided Liberty ace Julia DiMartino with a five-run cushion. Not that DiMartino would need it.

A junior from Brockport, New York, DiMartino (20-7) threw 92 pitches, completing her seventh shutout of the year and lowering her ERA to 1.97 on the season. As the reigning Big South Pitcher of the Year, DiMartino is the first pitcher in Lady Flames history to win 20 games in back-to-back years as well as have at least seven shutouts in three consecutive seasons.

“She’s just that good of a pitcher,” McFarland said. “It’s so much fun to catch her and be able to watch her produce like she does for us.”

DiMartino was hardly tested except in the top of the fourth inning, when Charleston Southern put runners on second and third base with only one out and the Lady Flames holding on to a 2-0 lead.

“This year we’re really focused on not letting pressure turn to stress — pressure is good, stress is bad,” McFarland said.

DiMartino handled the pressure when she needed to and was sharp overall, giving up four hits and a walk while striking out seven.

“There’s one thing where you’re a thrower and another thing where you’re a pitcher,” Richardson said. “She was making the ball move. She was going in and out, and high and off-speed. She was really keeping them guessing and off-balance.”

Liberty pushed across an unearned run in the first inning on the strength of a single, a dropped fly ball to left field and a
fielder’s choice.

They grabbed a 2-0 edge by scoring another unearned run. A two-out double by center fielder Jasmeen Click drove in left fielder Alexis Erich, who reached first base on an error to start the bottom of the second inning.

For Click, who is hitting .224 with 14 runs scored in 35 games, it was both her first double and her first RBI of the season.

“She’s been battling,” Richardson said. “When she actually swung away and hit that ball the way it was spinning, I knew she minimally had a double.”

The teams traded scoreless frames until the bottom of the fifth, when a one-out liner by Amber Bishop just cleared the fence for her team-leading eighth home run of the year.

After an out and a walk to shortstop Sarah Robertson, McFarland stepped into the batter’s box and launched her third home run of the year to effectively seal the Lady Flames’ victory.

“When I heard it, I was like, ‘Don’t break the scoreboard,’” Richardson said.

McFarland’s offensive contributions were only a part of her role in the team’s victory, with both Richardson and DiMartino noting her phenomenal catching abilities.

“She hypes us up a lot and makes us want to get batters out,” DiMartino said. “She’s different from a lot of catchers, because she’s so selfless and just cares about everybody else but herself.”

 

 

Game two Saturday, April 21, 1pm

Jacob Couch

 

As the crowd at Kamphuis Field grew in the fourth inning, so did the Lady Flames lead against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers early Saturday afternoon, April 21. Liberty’s fiery four-run fourth inning propelled them to a 5-2 win, the first of two wins that the Lady Flames tallied on their Saturday double header.

The Lady Flames accomplishment was nothing short of stellar, as the Buccaneers were unable to generate any type of momentum outside of the two runs that came in the fifth inning.

Despite having played the evening prior, the Lady Flames looked as if they had come off a lengthy time of rest.

“It was super awesome just to see everybody start hitting the ball really well,” junior Jasmeen Click said. “Everybody’s getting hype in the dugout, having fun. I think that brings a lot of positivity onto the batting area when you’re having a lot of fun in the dugout.”

The Lady Flames passionate style of play gave junior pitcher Julia DiMartino confidence from the pitcher’s mound.

“We knew that this weekend we were going to take it,” DiMartino said. “I felt pretty confident on the mound. I knew that the other pitchers were going to get the job done.”

The Lady Flames are at the top of the Big South and are in the driver’s seat to finish in first place. But Richardson has no intention of allowing the team to ease up.

“The character of the team really shows at this time,” Richardson said. “As a coach all I can do is be an encourager, but it really comes down to them and the training that we’ve brought them through.”

 

 

Game three Saturday, April 21, 1pm

Emily Baker

 

During the final game of the series, junior Jasmeen Click and junior pitcher Julia DiMartino both shined for the Lady Flames.

Click played one of her best series yet, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI, a stat also shared by freshman Madison Via.

Click credited her performance to her teammates and her faith.

“I struggled for the beginning of the season coming back from an injury, but I have really relied on my teammates these past few weeks and leaned on them for encouragement and sought out God, and I trusted in him to let me have peace on the field whether or not I played well,” Click said.

Liberty opened strong in the final game, with pitcher Chase Cassady striking out five of the first seven batters she pitched against and scoring two runs in the 2nd inning.

DiMartino closed the game after the top of the 4th inning, allowing only two hits and striking out five batters in the final few innings of the game. She added 3 2/3 innings to her shutout streak, reaching 28 2/3 innings total.

DiMartino’s arrival on the pitcher’s mound provided a much-needed momentum shift in the Lady Flames favor after a slow 3rd inning and two CSU runs in the top of the 4th inning. Despite having the bases loaded, CSU failed to score a run with DiMartino pitching.

“I felt pretty confident on the mound. I knew the other pitchers were going to get the job done, but I had to be ready one way or another,” DiMartino said.

Liberty responded to CSU’s two runs with three of their own in the bottom of the fourth, then one run in the fifth and two in the sixth.

The game ended after DiMartino struck out all three batters in the seventh inning.

The Lady Flames are looking to finish strong with only eight games left in the season.

The Lady Flames return to Kamphuis Field for their next home game against North Carolina University Wednesday, April 25, in one of their final regular season games.