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Top-Seeded Liberty Downs No. 3 Seed UNF 9-1, Heads to ASUN Final

Flames to face Ospreys again in Final

Liberty Flames football (WSLS 10)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ€“ Top-seeded Liberty built an 8-0 lead over No. 3 seed North Florida on Friday, earning a spot in the 2022 ASUN Softball Championship final with a 9-1, six-inning win at UNF Softball Complex.

Liberty (42-16) advances to tomorrowโ€™s final, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch. UNF (41-16) played their way back through the losersโ€™ bracket, and will get a rematch with the Flames. The Ospreys would have to beat Liberty twice tomorrow to win the title.

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Scoring Summary

Liberty โ€“ 1st INNING โ€“ Canetto reaches on error, Hudson advances, Howard scores, 1-0

Liberty โ€“ 1st INNING โ€“ Wilson singles to left, Canetto advances, Hudson scores, 2-0

Liberty โ€“ 1st INNING โ€“ Machado singles to left, Wilson advances, Canetto scores, 3-0

Liberty โ€“ 1st INNING โ€“ Roupe grounds out the first, Machado advances, Wilson scores, 4-0

Liberty โ€“ 2nd INNING โ€“ Bachman homers to left, 5-0

Liberty โ€“ 2nd INNING โ€“ Machado singles to center, Wilson and Allan advance, Canetto scores, 6-0

Liberty โ€“ 2nd INNING โ€“ Roupe singles to left, Machado advances, Wilson and Allan score, 8-0

UNF โ€“ 5th INNING โ€“ Jackson singles up the middle, Bejarano scores, 8-1

Liberty โ€“ 6th INNING โ€“ Wilson singles to left, Heidorn scores, 9-1

Notable Numbers

- Liberty outhit UNF 13-4 for the game, with the Lady Flames recording three errors compared to one for the Ospreys. Both teams stranded six runners.

- Two-time ASUN Pitcher of the Year Emily Kirby (13-5) earned the win, allowing one run on four hits, striking out two in 4 1/3 innings. Karlie Keeney pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts.

- 2021 ASUN All-Conference first team pitcher Morgan Clausen (14-5) drew the loss, allowing four runs (two earned) in one inning. Izzy Kelly yielded four runs on five hits in 2/3 of an inning before Erin Kyle pitched four innings and allowed just one run on five hits.

- Five different Lady Flames recorded two hits each. Mary Claire Wilson went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, while KC Machado batted 2-for-3 with two RBI. Paige Bachman (2-for-3) homered, while Lou Allan and Devyn Howard both went 2-for-4. Rachel Roupe batted 1-for-3 with three RBI.

- UNFโ€™s Hayley Bejarano went 1-for-3 with a triple and one run scored.

Turning Point

- The Lady Flames scored four runs in the first and doubled their lead with a four-run second which Bachman started with a solo home run.

- UNF broke up the shutout bid with back-to-back hits in the top of the fifth, but didnโ€™t manage any offense against reliever Keeney. In the bottom of the sixth, Wilsonโ€™s RBI single ended the game.

Beyond the Box Score

- Libertyโ€™s 42 wins are the fourth most in a single season in program history and most since going 44-15 last season.

- The Lady Flames are 8-3 all-time in ASUN Softball Championship play, including 2-1 against North Florida. These two teams split a pair of conference tournament games in 2019.

- Defending champion Liberty will be making its 10th appearance all-time in a conference tournament final. The Lady Flames are looking for their fifth-ever conference tournament title, and first instance of back-to-back titles.

- Liberty is looking to be the first team to win back-to-back ASUN Softball Championships since USC Upstate won three straight from 2015 through 2017.

- Liberty is 8-0 all-time at UNF Softball Complex.

- Roupe has reached base safely in 17 straight games, the longest active consecutive games reaching base streak on the team.

- Libertyโ€™s nine runs scored today were the most that the Lady Flames have scored in a single ASUN Softball Tournament game.

- Paige Bachman is the first Liberty freshman to hit a conference tournament home run since Amber Bishop in the 2017 Big South Softball Championship.

- Kirby is 5-1 all-time in ASUN Softball Championship games.

- Liberty has posted 11 run-rule victories this season, and today was the first conference tournament run-rule win for the Lady Flames since beating Lipscomb 8-0 in five innings, May 8, 2021.