Liberty University will play against No. 13 Virginia Tech on April 22 at Tech Softball Park in Blacksburg, Virginia. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch and will be broadcast on ACC Network Xtra, with radio coverage available through LFSN Radio.
This matchup comes after Virginia Tech defeated Liberty 9-0 last week in Lynchburg, marking the third consecutive meeting where the Hokies have shut out the Lady Flames, outscoring them by a combined total of 24-0 since last season. Liberty is still seeking its first win over a nationally ranked team this season, although it has averaged three such victories per year since the start of the 2018 campaign.
Currently tied with Western Kentucky University for second place in Conference USA standings, Liberty holds the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head record against WKU. In their most recent series, Liberty secured a comeback victory with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to a go-ahead two-run single from Dani Lee and a save by Camden Anders. This was Liberty’s eighth comeback win this year and fifth when trailing in the sixth inning or later.
Virginia Tech enters Wednesday’s contest following a home series loss to Georgia Tech but remains strong statistically within both conference and national rankings: they are third nationally in doubles (93), tenth in batting average (.356), eighth in home runs (81), ninth in runs per game (7.93), and fifteenth in team earned run average (2.63).
On Monday, Maci Strickland was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week for her performance over four games last week; she currently holds a six-game hitting streak. Other key contributors for Liberty include freshman Dani Lee (.354 batting average), Alexia Carrasquillo (.326) who leads with ten home runs and thirty-seven RBIs, Ella Fox (.315) leading runs scored and stolen bases, Savannah Jessee (.305) with seven homers and twenty-six RBIs, as well as Brynn McManus (.293) who also has seven homers.
The Lady Flames’ pitching staff has achieved five shutouts this season—four during conference play—with standout performances from Camden Anders (11-4 overall record; eight wins and one loss plus a save within CUSA games), Danner Allen (two shutouts including an April no-hitter at Missouri State), Gabby Mike (career-high seven strikeouts earlier this month), and Abigail Findlay who picked up her third win during Sunday’s game at FIU.
