ATHENS, Ga. – Liberty used a five-run fourth inning to gain an advantage on No. 25 Charlotte on the way to a 6-3 victory over the 49ers in game one of the 2024 NCAA Athens Regional, Friday at Jack Turner Stadium.
Today’s game was moved up two hours from its original 3 p.m. start time due to weather in the area. First pitch was thrown at 1:05 p.m.
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The Lady Flames (37-23) pushed their winning streak to five games, advancing to tomorrow’s winners’ bracket game. Liberty will take on regional host No. 11 national seed Georgia after the Bulldogs defeated UNCW 8-0.
Charlotte, who entered the week with a 16-game winning streak and was ranked No. 25 by Softball America, fell to 38-17 on the season.
Raigan Barrett sparked Liberty’s five-run fourth inning, reaching on an error to lead off. Brooke Roberts’ RBI double got the scoring started. Charlotte’s Sam Gress walked the next two batters, loading the bases for Rachel Roupe. The Liberty junior singled to right, with two runs scoring. Relief pitcher Georgeanna Barefoot came on to face Sierra Kersten, whose two-run double made it 5-0.
The Lady Flames’ five runs in the fourth inning tied for the program’s most in a single inning in Regional play.