LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty clinched the series over Campbell with two wins on Saturday at the Liberty Softball Complex. The Flames opened the day with an 8-0 five inning victory and followed up with a 4-3 walk-off victory.
The Fighting Camels dropped to 12-15 overall and 2-3 in the Big South, while the Flames improved to 19-7 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Game one: Liberty 8, Campbell 0
Julia DiMartino threw a two-hitter in the series opener to lead Liberty to an 8-0 victory at the Liberty Softball Complex. The junior righty faced two batters over the minimum and fanned out eight Campbell batters across five innings of play.
The Flames jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning off of four walks and two hits. LU loaded the bases with two walks and an Amber Bishop single and followed up with a third walk to bring home the opening run. A sacrifice fly by Jaclyn Amader on the next play scored Bishop, while a single to right center by Madison Via brought home the final two runs of the inning for Liberty.
LU plated three more runs in the second inning to extend the lead to 7-0 over CU. The Flames opened up the inning with three consecutive hits – one single and two doubles – to drive in two runs. A sacrifice fly down the left field line by Sarah Robertson scored Tori Zavodny.
In the third inning,
Christa Hall broke up DiMartino's no-hitter with an infield single to the third baseman. That would be as far as she would get, as a strikeout on the subsequent play ended the inning.
Autumn Bishop homered to left center field in the bottom of the third to extend Liberty's lead to 8-0.
The Camels best scoring chance came in the fifth inning, as
Madison Herring hit a two out double down the right field line. However, a strikeout ended the rally chance for the Fighting Camels.
Megan Richards (9-6) was charged with the loss after giving up four runs in the first 0.1 innings of play.
Hannah McCravy and
Haley Hutchins both entered the game in relief, pitching 1.1 and 2.1 innings, respectively.
Game two: Liberty 4, Campbell 3
Amader hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Flames a 4-3 victory over Campbell on Saturday afternoon.
The Flames plated two runs in the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead over the Camels. Kaitlyn McFarland opened up the scoring with a solo home run to left center field, her first of the season. Via also scored for LU, as she was brought home off of an Autumn Bishop double.
Rachel McCollum smashed a three-run homer to left center field in the sixth inning to give the Camels a 3-2 lead. Her home run also scored Hall and Herring, who reached base off a single and fielder's choice, respectively.
Liberty responded in the bottom of the sixth, tacking on a run to even it up at 3-3 headed into the final inning. McFarland started things off with a lead-off triple to center field. On the next play, Via singled to right center field to score Jessica Cicerchia, who pinch ran for McFarland.
After the Camels went down in order in the seventh, the Flames took advantage of the opportunity, scoring a run to earn the walk-off victory. Amader smacked a single to center field to score Amber Bishop, who reached base via a lead-off walk.
DiMartino (12-4) picked up her second win of the day after pitching the final 1.2 innings in relief. She faced the minimum, fanning out two batters while giving up no hits or runs. Elizabeth Engler started for the Flames, giving up three hits and three runs in 5.1 innings.
Lexy Head (2-6) was tabbed with the loss after conceding nine hits and four runs across 6.1 innings pitched for the Camels.
Up next
The Camels will conclude the series on Sunday with a single game versus the Flames at 1 p.m. For the latest information on Campbell softball, make sure to follow
@GoCamelsSB on Twitter.
