Bishop Sisters Spearhead Softball To Three Wins At Liberty Softball Classic

Crack. In the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Amber Bishop-Riley’s bat crashed into the speeding softball, sending it deep into the outfield. Her twin sister, senior Autumn Bishop, who hit a single immediately prior, raced around the bases.

Bishop-Riley stopped after second base, but Bishop continued her sprint toward home plate, beating the throw to home. The Bishop twins would go on to account for all three runs as the Lady Flames beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3-2 Feb. 26, in the first game of this weekend’s Liberty Softball Classic.

“I just wanted to score,” Bishop said. “I knew Amber was going to get up there and do something big. I had a lot of confidence in her, and I wanted to make it home. When she hit it, I got as far off as I thought I could. Once I saw her drop it, I was just full go, and nothing was going to stop me.”

Bishop-Riley first scored in the first inning off an error by the Fighting Irish that allowed Kara Canetto to safely reach first base – and Bishop-Riley ran home. Her second run happened in the fifth inning, when she crushed the softball over the home run fence, smacking the scoreboard. 

Friday’s game marked Liberty’s first program victory against the Fighting Irish, leaving Head Coach Dot Richardson elated. 

“What an amazing game to compete against Notre Dame,” Richardson said. “I don’t know if it was a historic moment, but it felt like it.”

The Lady Flames performed well throughout the entire weekend, winning twice against Villanova and splitting the series with Notre Dame 1-1. The Flames first game against the Wildcats ended in the eighth inning with a 4-3 victory. The second game quickly became an offensive shootout, with the Flames winning 18-13.

Surprisingly, both of Friday’s games ended with walk-offs, with both final runs scored by Bishop. 

“Autumn Bishop really did an amazing job in scoring in the first game in ending that and the second game as well,” Head Coach Dot Richardson said. “It was a really cool feeling to be able to end the game by leaving them (their opponents) on the field. That was something we had to experience, and we did twice today.”

Richardson was not the only one who took notice of Bishop’s success running the bases. Bishop-Riley had high praise for her sister. 

“Autumn did a fantastic job base running today – it was so fun to watch,” Bishop-Riley said. “She did this amazing slide. It was beautiful.”

The Lady Flames will return to the field against Radford March 3 before hosting the Liberty Softball Invitational March 5-7.

Christian Shields is a Copy Editor. Follow his account on Facebook here.